H HI 

■p 

II HI 



wWral 




1 
HI 

I 

■ 



■ 



mm 



I Hi 

m 111981! 

p HHtll 

Hi HH 

■HT 

HHUlli 

1HH 



mm 

mm 
fflsm 



1HH 



ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



ANIMAL LIFE 
UNDER WATER 



By 

FRANCIS WARD, M.D., RZ.S. 



With 5 Colour and 48 Half-tone Plates 



New York 
FUNK AND WAGNALLS COMPANY 

1920 



QLiS 



am 

F*Wlefc*r 

way rc m 



Contents 



CHAPTER 

1. By Way of Introduction 

2. The Cormorant and Other Divers 

3. The Otter and Seal 

4. The Heron 

5. Gulls .... 

6. The Kingfisher 

7. The Angler and His Lures 

8. Miscellaneous Observations 
Index .... 



PAGE 
1 

25 

44 
91 
99 
130 
138 
151 
171 



List of Plates 



COMMON BROWN TROUT REFLECTING ITS SURROUND- 
INGS (Colour) .... Frontispiece 

Facing page 
A HIGHLAND LOCH AND UNDER-WATER VIEW OF THE 

SCENE . . . . . . .3 

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, PENGUIN AND RAINBOW 

TROUT ....... 4 

APPEARANCE FROM UNDER THE WATER, WHEN THE 
SUBJECT IS PARTIALLY ABOVE AND PARTIALLY 
BELOW THE SURFACE ..... 5 

METHODS OF SUBAQUEOUS OBSERVATION . . 8 

OBSERVATION TANK IN THE BANK OF A CONTROLLED 

STREAM ....... 8 

WHITE CARDBOARD REFLECTING GREEN COLORATION 

ON A ROAD (Colour) . . . .10 

WHITE ANEMONE IN THREE DIFFERENT SITUATIONS 

(Colour) 10 

TWO VIEWS OF THE SAME WATER-HEN SWIMMING IN 

THE AREA OF TOTAL REFLECTION (Colour) . 12 

A WHITE SAUCER FLOATING ON THE SURFACE OF THE 

WATER AS SEEN FROM BELOW ... 14 

BROWN TROUT WAITING FOR FOOD ... 18 

THE " FLASH " AS THE TROUT TURNS TO PICK UP A 

WORM ....... 18 

vii 



Vlll 



LIST OF PLATES 



CORMORANT WITH HERRING .... 

A FLASHING FISH ...... 

CORMORANT WITH WINGS EXTENDED 

CORMORANT SWIMMING ON THE SURFACE 

CORMORANT SEARCHING FOR FISH IN DARK WATER 

CORMORANT DIPPING IN SEARCH OF FISH 

APPEARANCE OF THE SAME BIRD AS SEEN FROM BELOW 
THE WATER ..... 

CORMORANT DIVING ..... 

CORMORANT CATCHING A FISH 

PENGUIN ON LAND AND FISHING IN DARK WATER 

BLACK-FOOTED PENGUIN CATCHING, TURNING AND 
SWALLOWING A FISH .... 

THE YOUNG OTTER STRAYS FROM THE HOVER 

DISTURBED ....... 

OTTER SEARCHING FOR FISH .... 

A TWO-POUND SEA 



Facing page 

20 



THE MOTHER OTTER FINISHES 
TROUT 



OTTER PLAYING WITH PIKE UNDER WATER 

" WHO GOES THERE ? " 

OTTER TURNING IN THE WATER AFTER A FISH 

AN OTTER WITH ITS CATCH .... 

THE COMMON SEAL : SEARCHING FOR FISH I SWINGING 
UP TO THE SURFACE .... 

THE COMMON SEAL : PEACE, ALARM, RETREAT 

HERON FISHING ...... 

HERON AS SEEN FROM ABOVE AND BELOW THE WATER 



LIST OF PLATES 



IX 

Facing page 

. 96 



a heron's meal : 39 whiting in one night 

heron disturbed while fishing. ... 98 

lesser black-backed gull seen above the water 100 



THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL : SWIMMING ON THE 
SURFACE : DIVING AFTER A FISH . 

STOMACH CONTENTS OF BLACK-HEADED GULL 
NATURAL SIZE I AIR VESICLE MAGNIFIED 15 
DIAMETERS .... 

STOMACH CONTENTS OF BLACK-HEADED GULL 

OTOLITHS AND AIR VESICLES AS INDICATION OF 
FEEDING ..... 

STOMACH CONTENTS OF HERRING GULL . 

STOMACH CONTENTS OF A HERRING GULL : 140 GRAINS 
OATS, 460 GRAINS WHEAT 



STOMACH CONTENTS OF BLACK-HEADED GULL : 
FLIES : GHOST MOTHS . 



CRANE 



THE KINGFISHER : A FISH I THE DIVE 

THE KINGFISHER : GOT HIM ! GONE 

KINGFISHER I REPOSE AFTER A MEAL 

DRY FLY AS SEEN BY A TROUT 

THROWING A LINE INTO RUNNING WATER 

THE ANGLER AS SEEN FROM UNDER THE WATER 

THE ANGLER AS SEEN FROM B^LOW THE WATER 

DRESSED IN A GREEN TWEED SUIT AND WEARING 
A WHITE DUST COAT . 

THE FLASHING FLY .... 

MALE AND FEMALE TROUT ON THE SPAWNING GROUND 

RAINBOW TROUT : A FIGHT TO THE DEATH 



100 

108 
110 

114 
114 

124 

128 
132 
134 
136 
140 
142 
142 

144 
148 
152 
154 



LIST OF PLATES 



Facing page 
A RAINBOW TROUT RUSHING AT FOOD WITH OPEN 
MOUTH ..... 



RUDD TAKING A WORM 

CHUB ....... 

A YOUNG PIKE ON THE LOOK-OUT (Colour) 
WATER-HEN FLYING UNDER THE WATER 



156 
158 

162 
164 
166 



Animal Life Under Water 

CHAPTER I 

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 

AN account of the habits of a fish-eating bird or 
-TjL animal cannot be considered complete unless 
the aspect of the bird or animal is described as 
seen from below the surface of the water, that is 
to say, from the fish's point of view. Under- 
water appearances differ so greatly from the 
usual conception that it will be necessary first to 
explain the general principles of an under-water 
scene. 

This explanation given, I will next record 
my reasons for thinking that man's under- 
water point of view is similar to that of 
the fish; if the reader agrees with me on these 
points, we shall be on common ground, and 
I can then proceed to show how under-water 
appearances affect the habits of subaqueous 
life. 



2 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

Imagine yourself, then, under the water, on 
the bed of a river. Seen from below, the surface 
of the water would appear as an extensive 
mirror, with the river-bed reflected upon it. 
Immediately above the observer the reflecting 
surface is broken by a circular hole or window. 
Through the surface of the water, in the area of 
this " window," the sky and objects immediately 
overhead have their usual appearance, but in 
addition surrounding objects above the water 
level are also seen through the " window " as 
dwarfed and distorted images, suspended, as it 
were, in the air above the circumference of the 
circular hole. 

A ring of iridescent colours separates the 
' 'window" from the surrounding reflecting 
surface. 

The foregoing will be made plain by an 
examination of the illustrations on the following 
three plates. 

On the folding plate are two scenes ; the top 
one represents a view on a barren Highland 
loch. One arm of this sheet of water has been 
cut across, and the water and the bed of the loch 
are seen in section. Imagine your eye to be at 
the point c ; the line a b represents the diameter 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 3 

of the circular "window" immediately above 
the observer. 

Let us first consider the white gull flying 
overhead, the large round boulder on the bottom, 
to the right, and the submerged water-lily leaves 
beyond. 

From the point c the gull appears as shown 
on the lower illustration ; that is, as a dark sil- 
houette flying across the " window," with the 
fleecy clouds beyond. The gull swimming on 
the surface and the penguin and fish under the 
water will be referred to later. Outside the 
circle the surface of the water reflects the dark 
bed of the loch, but the reflected images of the 
round boulder and water-lily leaves are alone 
illustrated. Now look again at the top illustra- 
tion. A gull is shown swimming on the surface 
beyond the circle ; a sailing boat is seen coming 
down the loch, and at the water's edge a fisher- 
man awaits the arrival of the boat. Seen from 
below the water, that portion of the gull beneath 
the surface is seen as a dark object on the left, 
marked by a white cross, while the image of the 
head appears on the edge of the circular 
"window." The hull of the boat cannot be 
seen under the water, for it is lost in the dark 



4 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

distance, but the stunted sail, as it blends with 
the hills beyond, is seen in a similar manner to 
the gull's head. The rugged bluff on the right 
towers overhead, while the distorted features of 
the fisherman look down upon the observer as 
if from a gallery. In this manner the whole of 
the surrounding objects and scenery are crowded 
into a cone, the vertical angle of which — a c b — 
is one of ninety-seven degrees. 

Let us now consider the illustrations on the 
next plate. These are photographs of the lesser 
black-backed gull, a penguin and a rainbow trout 
as they would appear if seen from the point c in 
their positions as shown on the folding plate. In 
the top photograph only that portion of the gull 
below the surface is visible. This submerged 
portion has the appearance of a bipalatinoid with 
four feet attached at one end. The bottom half 
is the bird, while the top half is merely reflection 
from the surface of the water. The white streak 
across the centre marks where the body of the 
gull cuts the surface, and it will also be seen that 
the portion of the white bird which is below the 
water reflects the colour below, as does the 
surface of the water. 

The penguin in the second illustration is 




The lower Illustration shows s^er-water view of the scene in the top picture 
as itp from the point C. 





Photographs of Lesser Black-backed Gull, Penguin, 

and Rainbow Trout, showing how they appear to 

the observer at C, when they are in the positions 

shown on the Folding Plate opposite (p. 3). 




X 



I 



/ A J 



\ ! \ 



m 



- 



Appearance from under the water, when the subject is 
partially above and partially below the surface. 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 5 

entirely submerged, and the whole of it is visible 
against the surface of the water, while the trout 
has the large boulder as a background. 

I have now described the appearance of 
objects both near and distant, above, on and 
below the surface. Only one more position 
remains to be considered, namely, when the 
lower portion of the object is on the bottom — 
on a level with the submerged observer — and the 
upper portion is above the surface. This is 
illustrated by a wading angler on the plate 
opposite. 

y is the point of observation, x z the diameter 
of the " window," z w the reflecting surface of 
the water beyond the " window." How the 
wading angler appears to the observer from the 
point y is shown in the lower half of the plate. 
In the foreground are the rocks on the bottom 
of the stream, with subaquatic vegetation 
attached to a boulder on the right, then the legs 
of the angler encased in brogues and waders, and 
above this a streak of light, where his thighs 
break the surface. The remainder of the image 
up to the arc of the circle at z 1 is merely 
reflection. 

Above the arc of the circular ' i window ' ' are 



6 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

seen the compressed head and shoulders and the 
distorted features of the angler who appears to 
be looking down upon the observer over the 
edge. 

The point z 1 on the arc of the circle in the 
lower illustration corresponds to the point z in 
the upper part, and the reflecting surface z 1 to 
w 1 to the surface between z and w. 

A subaquatic view differs from terrestrial 
scene in that the foreground is always well 
lighted — provided the scene is not too deep under 
the water — while outside the range of this light 
the bed of the pond or river appears darker and 
darker, until the reality and the reflection blend 
in the gloomy distance. 

A perfect reflection from the surface of the 
water is only obtained when that surface is un- 
broken. The appearance of objects, as seen 
from below, when the surface of the water is 
disturbed will be referred to later. 

The size of the "window" varies with the 
position of the observer; roughly, the radius of 
the circle corresponds to the depth of the point 
of observation, below the surface. With the 
eye three feet below the water the circumference 
of the hole would be approximately eighteen 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 7 

feet. If the observer sank to a depth of nine 
feet, the circumference of the " .window " would 
increase to fifty-four feet, and, again, diminish 
as he came nearer to the surface until it disap- 
peared altogether. It will be shown how this 
optical fact enables fish and birds to escape 
detection from their enemies under the water, 
as they slip out of the "window," where they 
are conspicuous as silhouettes against the sky. 

Many of my readers are doubtless familiar 
with these phenomena, dependent as they are 
upon optical laws which govern the course of 
rays of light from air into water, but I have 
described them at some length for the benefit of 
those who may be considering the underwater 
point of view for the first time. 

In the spring number of The Field, May 4th, 
1912, I published an article on M The Angler 
from the Fish's Point of View." Consequent 
upon some statements made, Mr. Cecil Hawkins 
drew my attention to some errors that are likely 
to arise in estimating the real position of an 
object, when viewed from under the water 
through a plate-glass window, owing to the rays 
of light from the object under consideration 
being refracted as they passed through the glass. 



8 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

In consequence of his helpful criticisms all 
the subaqueous observations and photographs 
in this book were made under such circumstances 
that the rays of light from the object observed 
struck the glass of the observation chamber or 
apparatus at right angles; refraction and conse- 
quent distortion have thus been reduced to a 
negligible quantity. 

A description of my first observation pond 
was given in " Marvels of Fish Life," published 
by Cassell's in 1911. This consisted of a con- 
crete pond with an observation chamber below 
the level of the water in one bank of the pond. 
No light entered this chamber except through 
the surface of the water. Life in the pond was 
therefore observed illuminated as in Nature. 
Further, in consequence of the light in the pond 
and the darkness in the chamber, the glass 
became a mirror to a fish, and the observer, if 
clad in dark clothes, was entirely invisible to 
the denizens of the pond. 

The observations and illustrations in this 
book have been made from ponds built on the 
same principle, but, as I have stated, the glass 
windows of the observation chambers have been 
fixed at various angles so as to avoid distortion. 





Methods of Subaqueous Observation. 




Observation Tank in the bank of a controlled stream. 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 9 

My observations have also been checked by 
means of a swinging apparatus, with a mirror at 
the bottom, which served as a periscope under 
the water. 

Finally, a box apparatus has proved useful 
as a telescope for direct downward observation. 

These different forms of observation are dia- 
gramatically shown on the accompanying plate. 

For the observation of objects in the water a 
vertical glass is used, as shown in No. 1 ; while 
for recording the appearance of objects on and 
above the surface the ' 6 window ' ' is fixed at 
various angles as shown in 2. In 3 and 4 two 
forms of box cameras are illustrated for under- 
water photography, with the photographer above 
the level of the water. A temporary box 
observation chamber is shown on the lower illus- 
tration on this plate. This box when in use was, 
of course, covered by a lid. It will be seen that 
the supply of water into the observation stream 
was controlled through a pipe. 

I would next draw attention to the value of 
reflection as a concealing factor under the water. 
In Chapter III of " Marvels of Fish Life " I 
dealt fully with this subject, and showed how this 
reflection was modified by counter-shading and 



io ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

markings on the body of the fish. On the 
present occasion I take the opportunity of show- 
ing rather an exceptional colour photograph of 
the common brown trout. I hardly think it is 
realised that such a highly pigmented fish as the 
brown trout reflects to the extent shown in the 
illustration. Concealment by reflection among 
fishes is to a great extent due to the presence of 
iridocytes in the skin of the fish. 

Under certain conditions many forms of sub- 
aquatic life are equally well protected by 
reflection from the fact that they are white. 

The reflecting power of a white object under 
the water is shown by an experiment illustrated 
on the colour plate opposite. 

An observation pond was allowed to become 
overgrown with confervae. The pond was 
emptied and the green growth removed from the 
plate glass of the observation chamber ; a stick, 
with squares of white cardboard attached, was 
then stuck in the empty pond. The cards were 
slightly tilted towards the bed of the pond. 
Seen thus, the surface of the outside card re- 
tained its whiteness, but as soon as clear water 
was run into the pond this white card reflected 
the green bottom as shown. In this experiment 




White Cardboard reflecting Green Coloration in a Pond, 






White Anemone (Aciinoloba dianthus) in three 
different situations. 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION n 

three cards were nailed to the stick to give more 
substance, and it will be seen that the top of each 
card shows white as it catches the light from 
above. 

How do the white forms of animal life deal 
with this revealing reflection of top light? By 
invariably taking up a position where the top 
light is cut off. 

This is well illustrated in the accompanying 
colour photograph of the white anemone (Acti- 
noloba dianthus). The top illustration shows 
this anemone just commencing to open. For 
this photograph the anemone was placed in an 
unnatural position to illustrate how conspicu- 
ous it was when reflecting top light. In the 
middle photograph the same anemone, shown 
closed, has moved on to the side of a stone under 
the shelter of a shelving rock. The top light 
was now cut off, and the white anemone reflected 
its surroundings and appeared green. 

Even in the event of the top light not being 
completely cut off, a white object is often con- 
cealed by partial reflection of the surroundings. 
For example, in the bottom illustration the same 
anemone is shown attached to a block of granite. 
The stem of the anemone is catching the light 



12 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

from above, while the half -open portion is re- 
flecting the reddish-yellow colour around, and 
so appears to blend with the granite rock. 

White objects on the surface are also con- 
cealed by reflection. The top illustration on 
the plate opposite page 4 shows how the body 
of the lesser black-backed gull reflects the colour 
below and is, in consequence, inconspicuous 
against the surface of the water. 

But it is not necessary that the plumage of 
a bird should be white for it to secure conceal- 
ment by reflection, for black-plumaged birds 
become mirrors under the water owing to reflec- 
tion from the air bubbles retained in their 
plumage. 

Opposite are two illustrations of the same 
water-hen. The bird is shown swimming on the 
surface in the area of total reflection. The 
lower half of the bipalatinoid-shaped object, 
as already explained in the case of the gull, is 
the body of the bird below the surface of the 
water. The upper half is merely reflection. 

In the top photograph the light streak where 
the body of the bird cuts the surface is well 
marked. In the lower illustration the streak of 
light between the reality and reflection is not so 





Two Views of the same water-hen swimming in 
the area of total reflection. 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 13 

obvious; here, however, the body of the water- 
hen under the water is dark green in colour, 
.while the reflection is of a lighter shade. The 
explanation as to why the water-hen appeared 
first red and then green is as follows : I placed 
in the pond immediately in front of the glass 
a large sheet of tin, painted red. In the centre 
of this tin I cut a small hole through which I 
photographed the bird on a Lumiere colour plate. 
Next I took the same bird to a pond overgrown 
with confervse and green vegetation. The por- 
tion of the black-plumaged bird below the 
surface now appeared green by reflection, as 
shown in the lower illustration. 

It must be realised that the foregoing 
remarks only apply when the anemone, gull or 
water-hen are viewed from under the water. 
The white anemone seen in the sea from a boat 
may appear white, even if under a shelving rock, 
because it reflects the rays of light from the point 
pf view of the observer. But to the observer 
under the water, on a level with the anemone 
and with the top light cut off, it appears green, 
red or any other colour that may be reflected 
from its surroundings. 

In the same manner, if from the bank of a 



14 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

stream a water-hen is seen to dive into the water, 
the bird appears a mass of silver, for the air 
bubbles in the feathers reflect the light from 
above. I have shown how, seen from below in 
the area of total reflection, this bird is concealed 
by reflection. 

Though a white object on the surface, seen 
in the area of total reflection, is concealed, this 
very reflection causes it to become conspicuous 
as soon as it is seen in the area of the circular 
" window." 

Examine the plate opposite. On a pond 
specially constructed for surface observation a 
white saucer was floated down on the water 
towards the observer. Seen from the chamber, 
the surface of the water reflected the green 
undergrowth in the pond; the saucer did the 
same, and was, therefore, lost to view. The 
position of the saucer in the area of total reflec- 
tion can be detected by the white ring where 
the saucer cuts the surface. 

As soon as the saucer floated into the circle 
it will be seen how prominent it appeared, for it 
continued to reflect the green undergrowth and 
is seen as a dark silhouette against the light of 
the sky. 






A White Saucer floating on the surface of the water 

seen from below, in the area of total reflection and in 

the " window." 

(Hold this Plate at an angle of 45° at the level of the eyes.) 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 15 

The same occurs with bird life on the 
surface. 

The concealment of a bird on the surface is 
probably both protective and aggressive. 

The young water-hen only becomes obvious 
when it swims into the pike's "window," but 
before the fish is ready to attack the bird has 
again disappeared into the area of total reflec- 
tion. Again, if a sprat is swimming, say, a foot 
under the water, the arc of his ' ' window ' ' is 
only a foot in front of him, and the surface- 
feeding gull can be almost over him before the 
fish detects his enemy. 

It might be thought that the white streak 
where the body of the bird cuts the water 
would reveal the gull, but this is not so, for 
the slightest ripple on the surface causes 
flickers of white light among which the streak 
is lost. 

Although reflection is undoubtedly the main 
factor in the concealment of subaquatic life, 
mimicry, pure and simple, also plays an im- 
portant part. 

Not only do many fishes, crustaceans, 
anemones, &c, mimic vegetation perfectly, but 
various marine organisms are pigmented so as 



16 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

to resemble colour reflected from marine vegeta- 
tion. 

Several red and brown seaweeds seen by 
transmitted light appear red or brown, but when 
seen against a dark background at various points 
they reflect a brilliant bluish colour. One of the 
plants to show this best is chondrus. In certain 
positions the whole side of rock covered with 
this seaweed flashes blotches and streaks of 
bluish-purple light. 

Many forms of marine life which usually 
inhabit rocky seaweed-covered areas show bluish- 
purple markings, e.g. lobsters and crabs. The 
swimming crab (Portunus puber) shows this par- 
ticularly well, and in pools on the Cornish coast 
I have frequently found a small brown anemone 
with purple markings exactly the colour of the 
purple light reflected from chondrus. 

The next point to be considered is " Flash." 
When a reflecting body in the water turns so 
as to catch the light from above, there is a flash 
of white light. 

These flashes of light from the bodies of fish, 
birds and lures have such an important bearing 
on feeding habits under the water that I must 
deal with "flash" in some detail. 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 17 

As a fish swims in the water the sides and 
the under parts of the fish reflect the general 
colour and shade of its surroundings, while the 
amount of light reflected from the back of the 
fish is regulated by the relaxation or contraction 
of the dark pigment cells in the skin of the back. 
A fish is therefore a swimming mirror, and so 
long as it swims on a level keel it is inconspicuous 
wherever it goes. 

If, in turning, the fish goes over ever so 
slightly on to one side, the opposite side catches 
the light from above, and there is a momentary 
flash. 

Next, a fish maintains its balance in the 
water by a concerted movement of its paired 
fins. When a fish becomes diseased or weak, 
this perfect balance is interfered with, and as 
the fish swims it rolls on to one side, and only 
rights itself with an effort. These movements 
result in a protracted flash. The track of this 
weak fish, as it proceeds on its wobbly course, is 
marked by a series of intermittent protracted 
flashes. 

Later I will show how intermittent pro- 
tracted flashes of light are emitted from the 
plumage of divers under the water, and are 



18 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

probably the means of attracting fish towards 
them. I will also illustrate the value of " flash " 
in all our fishing lures, such as spoons, salmon- 
flies, and wet trout flies. 

A reference to the frontispiece will show how 
perfectly the pigmented brown trout reflects its 
surroundings. 

I now show the same brown trout feeding, 
and it .will be seen to what extent this fish flashes 
as it turns to pick up a worm. 

This trout had a stance opposite the 
' ' window " of an observation chamber, and 
here he would hang motionless, except for an 
almost imperceptible movement of the paired 
fins and an occasional lateral swish of the tail to 
keep him up in the stream. Earthworms were 
dropped into the water above this fish, and as 
they were carried down to him he turned and 
picked them up, with the resulting " flash'' 
shown in the lower photograph. 

As a boy, during the hot, dry summer 
holidays, I frequently fished the running worm 
in Scottish rivers and Highland burns. It used 
to strike me then how difficult it was to see the 
trout even in the clear low water. I did not 
appreciate the value of counter-shading, reflec- 



Brown Trout waiting for Food. 




Tke " flash " as the Trout turns to pick up a worm, 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 19 

tion and protective markings, but I knew what 
the " flash " meant. Keep your eye on the spot 
to which you think your running worm is being 
carried; a quick, almost imperceptible, " flash " 
— strike, and you have him. 

Adherence to this principle has often helped 
to fill a creel. 

Until one has seen it, it is difficult to realise 
to what extent various forms of animal life 
" flash " under the water. For example, light is 
flashed from the glossy lustre of the cormorant's 
plumage, while other divers depend upon special 
white markings for this result. On the top illus- 
tration of the plate facing page 20 a cormorant 
is shown with a herring in its bill. The cor- 
morant's black head is flashing silvery- white, 
while the silvery herring is black. 

In the lower illustration a fish is flashing as 
it evades the attentions of a seal. 

In conclusion it may fairly be asked whether 
the observations made by the human eye are any 
indication of what the fish sees. In structure 
the eye of a fish differs very little from the 
human eye, except that the cornea is flattened, 
with the result that the fish is short-sighted com- 
pared with man. But I have not the slightest 



20 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

doubt that the same colour schemes and mark- 
ings that conceal life under the water from man 
conceal it also from fish. In support of this 
statement I must explain that when I first 
started to watch the habits of fish in observation 
ponds, one particular species was examined at a 
time. A month or more before these were intro- 
duced into the pond it was prepared so as to 
resemble the usual habitat of the particular fish 
to be observed, not only as to water supply and 
vegetation, but also with regard to its natural 
food. When I decided to examine the brown 
trout, gravel, stones and rocks were arranged on 
the bottom of the concrete pond. A watercress 
bed was planted at the shallow end where the 
water flowed in, and the pond was stocked from 
an adjacent stream with fresh- water shrimps, 
snails, caddis, stone loach and minnows. 

When the balance of life was established and 
the shrimps were breeding freely, a wild trout 
from the same stream was added to the pond. 

A constant stream of water ran through the 
observation pond, and the clear space in front 
of the observation chamber was virtually a pool 
in a trout stream. 

When visitors descended into the chamber 




Cormorant witk Herring. 



g 


■H^l 



A Flashing Fish. 

(From Cinematograph Film.) 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 21 

they invariably wished to see the fish feed. I 
usually netted out a few stone loach in the 
shallow water and threw them in above the trout. 

As the loach swam down it was very con- 
spicuous, but as soon as it reached the bottom 
it melted from sight. 

In a similar manner the trout could see the 
loach in the water, and would make a rush at it 
from behind a stone or from the other side of 
the pond ; if, however, the little fish got to the 
bottom before the trout seized him it was safe. 

The trout would swim round and turn down 
his eyeballs, but, so long as the loach kept still, 
the same colour scheme and markings which 
concealed it from the human eye concealed it 
from the trout. 

Again, for some months I watched pike. 
One fish, some three pounds in weight, used to 
lie on the bottom, within six inches of the glass 
of the chamber. Four feet farther into the pond 
a patch of rushes had been planted, and roach, 
rudd and dace — the natural food of the pike — 
moved about in the water. I have seen two or 
three dace slowly move up in front of the rushes 
and then hang in the water ; when a particle of 
food was carried down in the stream a dace 



22 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

would give a quick turn to seize it, and there was 
a momentary " flash." If the pike was on the 
feed he would show his agitation at once by a 
glint of the eye and by erecting his dorsal fin, 
but by no other movement would the predatory 
fish show that he had detected the presence of 
his prey. A second " flash," and the pike raised 
himself on his paired fins, straightened his 
back, and, rigid with excitement, slowly glided 
towards the patch. If the dace remained until 
the pike was within striking distance, there was 
a sudden rush, a swirl, and the small fish was 
seized by the middle, turned and swallowed. 

The pike was on the look-out for food, yet 
the same reflection of colour and counter- 
shading which made it difficult for the human 
eye to detect the dace concealed it from the 
pike, and the same momentary "flash" which 
was apparent to the human eye was an indication 
to the pike of the presence of its prey. 

Whether fish appreciate colour in the same 
way as we do has always been a rife subject for 
discussion. 

I argue that a great many forms of fish food 
are concealed from the human eye by colour 
schemes; the same food is undoubtedly con- 



BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION 23 

cealed from the fish. The structure of the eye 
of a fish suggests that it ought to be able to 
appreciate colour, and therefore it seems only 
reasonable to think that fish appreciate colour 
values. 

" Jim Jam " described in The Field a series 
of feeding experiments by which he showed that 
a roach could appreciate red, white and blue as 
colours. And dry fly-fishing certainly leads one 
to think that a fish is not colour blind. 

The question of the " window " and the area 
of total reflection depends upon definite optical 
laws which control the course of rays of light 
from air into water. With the fish's eye very 
similar in structure to the human eye, there is 
no reason to think that the fish sees the world 
above the water in a different manner from 
ourselves. 

It has been experimentally proved that the 
trout see a very large arc of the circular 
" window " as he lies in the water; in fact, all 
of it except for sixty degrees immediately behind 
him. This is quite easy to believe when one 
thinks of the behaviour of the surface-feeding fish. 

Keep immediately below him, and as long as 
you throw your fly straight above the fish he will 



24 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

come up and look at it or some other pattern as 
long as you like to continue this form of exer- 
cise. But drop your fly to one side; the trout 
does a half -turn and swims towards it. You are 
now no longer immediately behind the trout, 
and you come into that portion of the arc of 
the ' ' window ' ' which is visible to the trout ; he 
sees your distorted features above him, and is 
off like a dart. 



CHAPTER II 

THE CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 

IT has been necessary to .write a somewhat 
lengthy explanatory chapter so as to make 
clear certain points in natural history as seen 
from under the water. 

I now propose to describe the life history of 
a few birds and animals without further detailed 
reference to these points, on the presumption 
that the reader has grasped their significance 
from the introductory chapter. 

The name ' ' divers ' ' has been given by the 
naturalist to certain sea-birds that either swim 
or fly after their prey under the water. 

The British divers include the grebes, the 
northern, black and red-throated divers, guille- 
mots, razorbills, puffins and cormorants. 

The main diet of sea-birds consists of fish; 

divers feed on fish almost exclusively, while gulls 

take fish to a far greater extent than is generally 

recognised. 

25 



26 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

As an example of the ways of divers, let us 
consider the cormorant, though, as a matter of 
fact, this bird does not dive at all! When it 
leaves a rock it flies on to the water, alighting 
on the surface with a splash ; it then disappears 
below the surface and swims after its prey. By 
means of its webbed feet alone it propels itself 
through the water, in this respect differing from 
the penguins, who use their modified wings for 
this purpose. 

Thirty-six species of cormorants are known, 
but only two of them frequent the British Isles 
— the common black cormorant (Phalacrocorax 
carbo) and the green cormorant (Phalacrocorax 
graculus). 

Both species are found together round our 
shores, but the green cormorant, or shag, is not 
often seen east of the Isle of Wight, and is 
uncommon round the coast as far up as Caith- 
ness. Both are found in about equal numbers 
in the Orkneys, Hebrides and on the west coast 
of Scotland, but the shag outnumbers the black 
cormorant in the west of Ireland and on the 
Cornish cliffs. 

The cormorant is the larger bird of the 
two; the black plumage has a greenish-purple, 



CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 27 

metallic hue, the throat is white, and during the 
breeding season a white patch appears on the 
thighs. It has fourteen feathers in the tail. 

The shag, or green cormorant, is consider- 
ably smaller; the dark plumage has a green, 
metallic tint, there is no white at any time on 
the bird, but during the breeding season a dark 
green crescent develops on the head, the feathers 
of which are curved forwards. It has only twelve 
feathers in the tail. 

The two species also differ in their nesting 
habits. Cormorants nest in colonies, mainly 
upon the top of precipitous cliffs, but they also 
build in trees and sometimes on the ground 
beside inland waters. 

The shag, on the other hand, is a solitary 
bird. It selects the most inaccessible ledge upon 
which to build its nest, either on the face of a 
cliff or in a cave. This species is entirely mari- 
time in its habits. 

The cormorant is a more timid bird than the 
shag, and when both are sitting together on a 
rock in the sea the former will take to flight and 
skim away over the surface of the water when 
a boat is still two or three hundred yards away. 
The shag usually remains considerably longer, 



28 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

and, when it leaves the rock, drops on the water 
with a tremendous splash, swims a few yards, 
and then disappears below the surface with scarce 
a ripple. 

I have never yet made up my mind which 
has the worst smell, a cormorant rookery, a 
gannetry, or a crowded heronry. If, however, 
the reader decides to spend a time concealed 
among cormorants, I can guarantee that the 
observation of the quaint habits of this bird will 
amply repay the inconvenience caused by the 
stench. 

The nest of the cormorant consists of a large 
piled-up structure made of seaweed, marine 
plants and debris from the shore. Old nests are 
rebuilt year by year until they become ungainly 
structures. The eggs, usually three to five in 
number, are white, with a rough chalky surface. 
A peculiarity of the cormorant family is the 
spread-eagle attitude which these birds assume, 
and they will sit in this position for an hour or 
two at a time, motionless except for a waggle 
of the tail or an occasional flapping of the wings. 
It would appear as if the pose afforded ease to 
the bird when distended with fish, for the 
cormorant always sits in this position after a 



Cormorant with Wings Extended. 




Cormorant Swimming on tke Surface. 



CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 29 

heavy meal. The upper illustration on the 
accompanying plate shows this attitude. 

The lower photograph on the same plate 
shows a cormorant swimming on the surface. 
The bird is by no means the entirely black object 
it appears in the distance, for the bronze-brown 
wing coverts have distinct blackish-green mar- 
gins. It will be seen in the photograph how 
these markings fit in with the ripple pattern on 
the water. 

Cormorants consume a prodigious quantity 
of fish. I have watched them feeding in the 
sea off Cornwall, in the Hebrides and on fresh 
waters, and though a bird only weighs six to 
eight pounds, it consumes at least fifteen pounds 
weight of fish a day ; some authorities place the 
total considerably higher. 

An extraordinarily large amount can also be. 
taken at one time. A Scarborough naturalist 
gave a bird fifty herrings, all of which were 
swallowed. On one occasion I gave a small 
captive cormorant all the fish he wanted, and 
he took twenty-seven herrings of an average 
length of seven inches. 

Reliable records are available of specimens 
which contained respectively a conger 2 ft. 6 in. 



30 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

in length, a grilse weighing 3 lb. 2 oz., and six 
trout weighing 2 lb. 4 oz. 

The question naturally arises : How does this 
bird manage to catch all the fish required to 
satisfy its enormous appetite with such ease 
that it is able to spend most of its time 
perched, as a sentinel, upon some lonely rock 
or tree? 

I would suggest that fish are attracted to 
the bird by the " flash " from the black, glossy 
lustre of its plumage. The extent of "flash" 
from a glossy-plumaged bird has already been 
illustrated in the introductory chapter. The 
" flash " from the cormorant is again shown on 
the opposite page. A single illustration, how- 
ever, does not by any means give a true idea of 
the " flash " from a diver. In the photograph 
the light is upon the neck and shoulders, but, as 
the active bird twists and turns, at the next 
moment the neck and shoulders may be invisible 
and a " flash" appear from the head and tail. 

In this manner, as the cormorant races 
through the water, bright streaks of light travel 
along the head, neck and body, and flash at 
different points. These flashes resemble the 
turning movements of shoaling fish, and the 




Cormorant searching for 



Water. 



CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 31 

pollack, cod or bass are attracted to their 
destruction. 

The cormorant also hunts his prey while he 
swims on the surface. When the bird fishes in 
this manner he dips his head below the water 
and swims forward with it submerged ; he then 
raises the head, looks round, and dips it down 
again. These manoeuvres are continued until 
he sees a fish, when he dives and gives chase. 

The three top photographs on the plate 
facing page 32 — taken from a cinematograph 
film — illustrate the movements of the head. 

The bottom illustration on the same plate 
shows the "flash" from the head of the cor- 
morant, as seen from below the water, while 
he was swimming as described. 

I would suggest that when a pollack sees such 
a ' ' flash ' ' from the head of a cormorant it 
suddenly turns and, in turn, flashes. The cor- 
morant detects the " flash " of the fish, instantly 
draws up his legs under his breast, expands his 
large webbed feet, gives one powerful stroke 
downwards, tips up, and disappears with a swirl 
below the surface. A chase ensues, but the 
pollack signals his course as he turns in his 
endeavours to escape, and it is not long before 



32 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

the rapid-swimming cormorant has seized his 
prey across the middle. The bird then comes 
up to the surface, and the fish is turned and 
swallowed head first. 

I do not suggest that the cormorant puts his 
head under in order to ' ' flash " ; he does it so 
as to see below the surface. Incidentally the 
" flash" attracts the prey to the bird. 

In 1913 I watched a cormorant in Port Erin 
harbour behave in the manner I have described. 
Pollack were in the bay. I had fished for an 
hour, but never touched a fin ; the bird came up 
five times with a nice fish. The fifth was a 
pollack of at least a pound in weight; this the 
bird found difficult to swallow, and for a time 
swam about with the tail of the fish sticking out 
of his mouth. 

The cormorant then indulged in certain 
antics which it was hard to follow from the 
distance, but I have seen my own captive 
cormorant in the same difficulty, and have 
watched these movements at close quarters. 
First, the bird commenced to tread water 
rapidly, with the result that the body was raised 
well above the surface. The neck was then 
straightened and the upper portion arched, so 




Cormorant Dipping in Search of Fish. 

(From Cinematograph Film.) 




Appearance of the same Bird as seen from below the Water. 



CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 33 

that the fish was held and literally pushed down 
the gullet; at the same time the gullet below 
appeared to be inflated. Occasionally this push- 
ing action was alternated with a violent shaking 
of the head. 

The actual distance that a cormorant can 
travel under the water without coming to the 
surface is given by various authorities as from 
seventy to one hundred and twenty yards. I 
personally consider the shorter distance nearer 
the mark. 

As the bird does not stay under the water 
more than a few seconds, it will be seen that it 
travels at no mean rate even if it were to swim 
straight forward. But the cormorant very 
seldom swims straight ahead ; as a rule it behaves 
like the otter under the water, and twists 
and turns this way and that in its search for 
fish. 

The two illustrations on the plate facing 
page 34 show the cormorant fishing under the 
water. When the upper photograph was taken 
the bird swam round and regularly quartered the 
ground in its search along the bottom. 

The lower illustration shows how it chased a 
fish down and then seized it across the back. At 



34 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

the same time the bird expanded and elevated 
the tail feathers and dropped the feet so as to 
check its onward rush. 

The tail feathers are remarkably strong and 
most effective for this purpose. These stiff 
feathers are also used as a prop when the bird 
sits upon a jock in the erect position. 

When a cormorant has caught a fish too 
large for it to swallow it is extremely persistent 
in its endeavours to perform the impossible. I 
have seen the bird twist a plaice round and round 
for ten to fifteen minutes before it dropped it 
in disgust. When I picked it up the flat fish 
was dead, with holes all round its body made by 
the powerful hook in the upper mandible of the 
bird. 

There is no doubt the cormorant destroys a 
large number of fish in this way over and above 
those it actually devours. 

While I was in the Outer Hebrides I came 
across an instance of a cormorant killing a cod- 
ling half its own weight. This, of course, was 
quite useless to the bird. 

Though the cormorant undoubtedly takes a 
large number of edible fish in the sea, it is when 
the bird visits inland waters and rivers that it 




Cormorant Diving. 




Cormorant Catching a Fish. 



CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 35 

may safely be said that he is responsible for the 
destruction of fish to the value of several pounds 
a day. 

If unmolested, a few cormorants will ruin 
any fresh- water fishing. A colony at one time 
built in the trees at Lough Tawnyard, County 
Mayo, where they played havoc among the 
trout ; and for a time cormorants ruined the fish- 
ing near Towyn, in Wales. These are merely 
two examples of what has frequently happened, 
because those interested in the fishing do not 
fully realise the ways of the cormorants. If a 
gang of poachers are found to be netting a water, 
the owners immediately take measures to prevent 
the poaching; but a pair of cormorants will do 
far more harm by their regular toll of the 
trout than an occasional visit of the poacher. 
Yet the cormorants are allowed to remain, 
because it entails so much trouble to shoot 
them! 

Owners of salmon rivers have not in- 
frequently taken combined action to improve 
the run of fish, but they have seldom gone to 
the trouble of preventing a flock of cormorants 
fishing in the estuary during the time that smolts 
are running down. Many thousands of prospec- 



36 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

tive salmon are lost in this manner, and much 
of the keepers' work on the upper waters 
.wasted. 

I know it will be said that the smolts are 
taken by congers and other predatory fish in the 
sea. That is so; it emphasises the need to 
remove those enemies of the young salmon 
which can be readily dealt with. 

Before I can expect the reader to accept the 
theory that * ' flashes ' ' from the diver attract 
fish to it, it will be necessary to show that divers 
in general " flash" in a similar manner. This 
is not difficult, for not only do all divers " flash," 
but the plumage of those divers that fish in dark, 
deep waters are exceptionally arranged to simu- 
late the flashings of fish. 

One of the best examples of this is to be 
found in the great northern diver. This bird 
remains under the water for several minutes at 
a time. It dives deep, and can swim 150 to 200 
yards before it comes up, though on occasions 
it can greatly exceed this distance. 

This handsome bird is not uncommon in the 
northern parts of our isles, but it is essentially 
an Arctic bird, and fishes in sombre surround- 
ings where there is insufficient light under the 



CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 37 

.water to cause a ' ' flash ' ' from the sheen on its 
plumage. 

The back of the great northern diver is 
covered with numerous white spots. These 
white spots do undoubtedly sparkle, even at a 
considerable depth, like a swinging shoal of fry. 
I have shown the power of white as a reflector 
under the water. 

Those who are unfamiliar with the plumage 
of the great northern diver I would refer to the 
illustration opposite page 17 in Vol. VI. of 
Morris's " History of British Birds." Morris's 
description is : 

" Breast white, back dusty, spotted all over 
with oblong, oval and round spots of white ; each 
feather has two spots, one on either side of the 
shaft near the tip, forming rows." 

The plumage of the great northern diver 
appears to me, par excellence, an example of 
aggressive concealment. The white breast con- 
ceals the bird's approach while it is in the 
area of total reflection, and under the water 
the back simulates a shoal of small shining 
fish. 

The white-billed northern diver is a bird that 
only accidentally leaves the Arctic circles. The 



38 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

white marks on its back are even more promi- 
nent. 

With the razorbill we find well-defined 
narrow white bands on the beak. 

The small, black-footed penguin affords a 
very good example of attractive 41 flash" from 
white plumage. 

I illustrate on the plate opposite the penguin 
as shown standing on a rock. The neck and side 
of the head are white, and this white plumage is 
extended as a line down to the tail ; the back is 
dark, and the breast is white. 

The two lower illustrations show the same 
bird swimming under water. These under-water 
illustrations are from cinematograph films. It 
will be seen that the dark back of the bird is 
invisible in the dark surroundings, for there is 
no sheen on the plumage of a penguin, and top 
light is not reflected. The white breast reflects 
the darkness below, while the white plumage on 
the side of the head and body catches the light 
from above and gives the "flash." 

The penguin is a heavy bird. Its wings are 
small, and as it flies through the water with an 
undulating movement the ;i flash " very much 
simulates the flash from a heavy silver spoon- 




Penguin on Land and Fishing in Dark Water. 

(From Cinematograph Film.) 



CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 39 

bait. Of the under- water photographs on the 
plate, the lower was taken one-fifth of a second 
after the first, and it will be seen how the 
" flash " altered in that time. 

When the entire film from which these two 
illustrations were cut is shown, the penguin is 
not detected, because the eye of the observer is 
arrested by the flash, flash, flash of the white 
plumage. 

The next question which arises is : Are the 
' ' flashes ' ' from a diver arranged by Nature so 
that the bird attracts its prey, or are these flashes 
a scheme for recognition among gregarious 
divers ? 

The cormorant has a glossy plumage so as to 
permit the bird to slip rapidly through the water, 
and the " flash " is therefore merely accidental, 
but for all that none the less effective. 

Whatever was the original purpose in the 
arrangements of white in the plumage of such 
birds as the great northern diver and the 
penguin, they certainly flash under the water 
like shoaling fish, and if these marks were in- 
tended for recognition, personally, I think they 
would have been better arranged. 

Before I pass on from the consideration of 



40 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

the penguin I should like to draw attention to 
the movements of this bird under water. The 
flight is by means of regular and rhythmic strokes 
of the featherless wings, and both feet are trailed 
out straight behind the bird. When the penguin 
desires to turn it does not do so by unequal 
strokes of the wings, but depresses one foot or 
the other, and when it wishes to come to the 
surface it elevates its stiff tail in much the same 
manner as the tail of an aeroplane is operated. 
To catch a fish the bird generally comes up from 
beneath it and seizes it across the middle, but the 
capture is invariably turned and swallowed head 
first. 

The photographs opposite of a penguin catch- 
ing a fish were taken with a special lighting so 
as to show up the movements of the bird under 
the water. In the third picture it will be seen 
how the penguin stopped its progress through 
the water as soon as it had caught its fish by 
depressing the webbed feet. Unlike the cormor- 
ant, who comes up to the surface to swallow each 
capture, a penguin will swallow several fair-sized 
specimens under the water. 

Penguins, like cormorants, devour large 
quantities of fish, but all divers appear to be 



*\ 






>* 






Black-footed Penguin catching, turning and swallowing 

a Fish. 

(From Cinematograph Film.) 



CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 41 

possessed of inordinate appetites. Even the 
innocent-looking little grebe, or dabchick, can, 
and does, destroy quantities of fry. I have kept 
a pair of little grebes and fed them in a large 
tank. Each bird was given twenty minnows a 
day, but I found this was quite insufficient and 
the grebes rapidly lost flesh. 

A year or two before the war Mr. Seth Smith 
wrote a very interesting account in the zoological 
notes of The Field about the feeding of this bird. 
Each grebe was given forty to fifty small fish 
from one to two inches in length daily. 

Since keeping dabchicks I have examined the 
contents of a few of these birds in order to arrive 
at a knowledge of their feeding habits in a wild 
state. The little grebe has a gizzard as large as 
that of the black-headed gull, and I have invari- 
ably found it full of food. 

Whenever small fish are present, the grebe, 
like all other divers, prefers this form of food. 
A specimen was shot on the Deben, and con- 
tained eight recognisable blennies, two to two 
and a half inches in length, and 258 otoliths of 
various sizes. It had, therefore, certainly 
devoured 137 small fish within the previous 
forty-eight hours. Another specimen contained 



42 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

remains of six or seven blennies and fifty 
otoliths. A month later I examined two other 
little grebes shot on the same water; one con- 
tained twenty shrimps (Pandalus annulicornis) 
and two to three hundred mysids, the second bird 
contained fifteen shrimps and about one hundred 
mysids. Though dabchicks devour enormous 
quantities of small fish whenever these are avail- 
able, they also eat large quantities of insects, 
including the larvae of the dragon fly and of the 
great water beetle (Dysticus), both of which 
insects are detrimental to fish culture. This fact 
is always put forward as an argument in favour 
of the dabchick, but it must be remembered that 
if a dabchick gets on to ponds or water where 
there are trout fry, the bird is going to have the 
fish first. 

I find on referring to my records that I have 
only examined the contents of some fifty divers, 
because these examinations merely confirmed 
what is already known — viz. that divers devour 
enormous quantities of fish. 

Though the feeding habits of divers probably 
have very little influence when these birds feed 
in the open sea, the destruction of enormous 
numbers of spawning fish in shallow waters round 



CORMORANT AND OTHER DIVERS 43 

the coast must of necessity damage our fisheries. 
In the estuaries of rivers divers are a distinct 
menace, and in confined waters, if unmolested, 
they will rapidly destroy the best fishing. 

In 1919 I spent a few weeks on the Cornish 
coast after six years' absence, and was very much 
struck by the enormous increase in the numbers 
of shags and cormorants. Off Land's End and 
Sennen every rock was crowded with these 
birds. On inquiry I found that the shilling 
reward offered for each shag or cormorant had 
been stopped in order to effect economy. While 
millions were being wasted, a few hundreds a 
year were saved, with the result that at the 
present time there is an ever-increasing destruc- 
tion of edible fish, the value of which can be 
estimated at many thousands of pounds. It is 
to be hoped that the Fishery Boards in these 
areas will now reconsider their short-sighted 
policy. 



CHAPTER III 

THE OTTER AND SEAL 

DURING several holidays spent in the 
Hebrides, in Suffolk, and in Lancashire, I 
have made a study of the otter and his ways, 
and endeavoured to learn as much about him as 
possible, and as I have tamed and kept three of 
these animals upon my observation ponds I feel 
that I am not presuming in writing at some 
length about the otter and its habits. 

In northern streams, when the water runs 
low and clear, many a good catch of sea trout 
can be made round about the hours of midnight. 
If it were only the question of a fish or two 
taken between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. I, personally, 
should prefer to keep my bed and kill my fish 
in a more orthodox manner, but night fishing 
has charms beyond the mere catching of fish. 

It was during an August holiday that I had 
whiled away a hot summer's day on the banks of 
the Hodder. I had marked down where the 

44 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 45 

best fish lay, made a note of the snags to be 
avoided in the dark, and had gauged the length 
of line required to fish the various parts of the 
pool selected — for seldom does the night angler 
move from one pool to another. 

During the afternoon I returned to the hotel 
for a substantial meal, then put on my waders, 
and leisurely strolled back to wait by the side 
of the pool where I had made my observations. 

My arrival sent to ground the rabbits in the 
wood opposite, but dusk inspired confidence, and 
very soon they again began to frolic and play, 
and an occasional stone loosened by their capers 
rolled downhill to fall with a splash into the 
water below. 

At the bend of the river a heron alighted, 
and for twenty minutes remained motionless in 
the water ; but no fish came his way, so he com- 
menced to stalk majestically upstream with out- 
stretched neck. When nearly opposite the old 
tree trunk upon which I was seated he became 
aware of my presence, flapped out of the water, 
and then gracefully sailed overhead, his great 
wings and trailing legs silhouetted against the 
darkening sky. But he only flew to the pool 
above, where he continued to fish. This bird 



46 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

evidently knew the night angler, and it was as 
though he said : ' 6 No doubt you are quite harm- 
less, only poaching, like myself; nevertheless I 
prefer to keep you at a respectable distance." 

For the last half-hour the fish had been on 
the move, and at length it was sufficiently dark 
to commence operations without much risk of 
disturbing the sea trout. I carefully waded in, 
and continued to cast a short line in front of 
me and on either side until I was up to my waist, 
then I knew my flies were dropping into deep 
water under the shelving rocks on the opposite 
bank. 

It was no longer possible to see the rising 
fish, but the plosh, plosh as they fell back after 
a rise suggested that they meant business. 

The start, however, was not propitious ; 
short rise followed upon short rise, and fish were 
missed. Suddenly there was a swirl, and I knew 
I was into a good trout, but before I had got 
on level terms he came straight towards me, 
dashed between my legs, snapped the gut, and 
was off. 

There was nothing for it but to go ashore and 
put on another cast. The expert night angler 
does this in the dark, but I had only tried the 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 47 

game once before, and so had brought an electric 
torch. A second attempt was more successful, 
for without the suspicion of a rise there was a 
touch. I struck, and for a moment all was still ; 
then the reel screeched as a fish dashed down the 
stream. The gut was strong, so I gave him the 
butt, and in less than five minutes he was in 
the net. I then turned on the torch, and the 
light was flashed back from the silvery sides of 
a fresh-run sea trout — two pounds if an ounce. 
Six times I fished the pool from end to end, 
and added two more trout to the basket. 

It was at the close of such a night as this, 
that I was thinking of going home when I heard 
a distant whistle downstream. The whistle 
became louder and louder and then ceased. I 
crept out of the water and lay on the bank. 
Then from the pool below there came a shrill 
metallic note ; small wonder that the sound car- 
ried miles up the valley in the still night air ! 

It was an otter. The beast continued to 
whistle, and at length there came the answering 
note from its mate ; then all was still except for 
the babble of running water and the occasional 
hoot of an owl. Presently I heard otters at 
play ; they had had their fill of fish, and one had 



48 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

called to the other to come and have a game. 
Their gambols over, they probably floated down- 
stream to a distant hover, and I returned to the 
hotel — to dream of landing a silvery otter on a 
ten-foot split-cane rod. 

This was my introduction to Lutra vulgaris, 
and since I have found him to be one of the most 
fascinating of animals. 

The habits of the otter have always been a 
source of interest to both the naturalist and the 
sportsman, and in consequence, notwithstand- 
ing his nocturnal habits, we have considerable 
knowledge of his ways. 

A litter of otter generally consists of two to 
four cubs ; sometimes there are five, and a litter 
of six was once found on the banks of the Moselle 
on July 26th, 1911.* The usual number, how- 
ever, is three. 

The young are generally found in the hollow 
of a tree down by the water's edge or in a hole 
among the roots, but a cleft in the rocks, a 
hollow in a bank, a sheltered nook on a wild 
bog, or a well-concealed spot in an osier bed may 
be the place selected by the mother in which to 
rear her offspring. The nest itself is prepared 

* Report of Lorraine Fishery Association. 




The Young Otter Strays from the Hover. 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 49 

with considerable care, and is usually lined with 
moss, fur or wool. 

The otter is a most attentive parent, and, 
except to feed, seldom leaves her young for the 
first two months. Occasionally, when the nest or 
" hover" is by the water's edge, the cubs are 
flooded out ; then the mother removes her family 
by the scruff of the neck to a place of safety, and 
has been known to carry them long distances 
in this manner. 

Otter cubs, even when quite young, are very 
restless, and require to be constantly watched to 
prevent them from straying. Sometimes one 
manages to escape while the parent is absent on 
a fishing excursion. He leaves with all the con- 
fidence of youth, but presently comes to water 
which he dare not face. The wanderer is not, 
however, allowed to go far, for the mother on 
her return quickly follows him up and drives him 
back to the hover. 

The otter is one of the terrestrial carnivora, 
and is a near relative of the badger, pine marten, 
stoat, weasel and ferret. It can run, jump, 
climb and fight with the best of them, and 
originally led a purely terrestrial life like its 
cousins. 

E 



50 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

But the time came when, in order to procure 
food more readily, it had to take to the water 
and adopt the methods of a fisherman. The 
hands and feet are now webbed and the tail is 
a rudder, and the animal is as much at home in 
water as on land. 

The otter, however, has not been fisherman 
long enough for the cubs to take instinctively to 
the acquired habits of the parent, and at first 
they dread the water and have no idea how to 
fish. When the young are about three months 
old the parents commence to instruct them in 
the ways of their future life, and they are taken 
down to the river bank. 

Here the mother tries to persuade them to 
follow her into the water, but persuasion seldom 
succeeds, and she has either to carry or push 
them into the stream. At times she enters the 
water with the youngsters on her back, and then 
sinks down so that they are left to swim. The 
mother, however, is not far off, and at the first 
sign of distress comes up below them and again 
lifts them on to her back. 

Instruction in fishing commences as soon as 
the cubs are quite at home in the water. For 
some time past they have followed their parents 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 51 

on land, keeping close to their heels, and now 
they follow them into the water in the same 
manner, so that undoubtedly they learn some- 
thing of fishing by example, and their animal 
instincts are aroused when the old otters come 
ashore and deposit a flapping fish at their feet. 
But, in addition to example, they are given 
definite instruction. 

Fish are not only cornered by the parents 
for the young to catch, but an otter has been 
seen actually to post her cubs in position and 
then drive the fish to them. 

My informant who witnessed the above pro- 
cedure was Old Moon, the water bailiff to the 
Ribble Fishing Association. 

Moon has lived his life in the wild country 
on the borders of Yorkshire and Lancashire, and 
he is, what one so frequently meets in that 
part of the world, a born naturalist, who has 
learnt his natural history entirely from ob- 
servation. 

The upper reaches of the Ribble and Hodder 
were at one time famous for sea trout and 
poachers, and also for the number of otters that 
frequented these waters. For many years most 
of Moon's nights were gpent on Ribble bank, 



52 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

and in consequence he has had splendid oppor- 
tunities for observing the habits of these shy 
creatures. 

The water bailiff described to me how, one 
night as he lay on the bank, he observed an 
otter and three cubs come to a shallow run of 
water below a bridge near Clitheroe. The 
mother kept the cubs in a line across the tail of 
the pool, while she went to the head and 
deliberately crossed the river from side to side 
so as to work the fish down to her youngsters. 
Their antics showed that the fish were driven 
down all right, but only one cub managed to 
catch a trout. 

That instruction is necessary before an otter 
will swim or fish is demonstrated by the follow- 
ing incidents : 

Mr. Rose, the Master of the Essex Otter 
Hounds, took a tame otter, which had been 
obtained as a cub, down to fish in a well-stocked 
pond, but nothing would induce it to do any- 
thing except walk round and round in the 
shallow water. 

The second case was that of an otter which 
I had on my ponds, and as this animal's 
behaviour well illustrates how some of the habits 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 53 

are due to inherited instinct, whereas others still 
depend on parental instruction, I will give a 
somewhat detailed history of this particular 
otter. 

In July, 1909, a lad with his terrier was 
walking on the banks of the Yare, near Maries- 
ford, in Norfolk, when the dog went into a 
hollow willow tree and emerged with a dead 
otter cub in his mouth. Though the lad felt all 
round the hole, he could not find any more. 
Next day, however, he caught a cub about three 
months old near the tree. This grew up to be 
the animal whose peculiarities I am about to 
describe. Soon after being captured the young 
otter came into the possession of a lodge-keeper, 
by whom she was kept for two years in a large 
rabbit hutch. The hutch, which was four feet 
long and two feet wide, was made of thin deal 
boards, with ordinary wire netting in front. 
Though she could have escaped from the hutch 
in five minutes had she wished to do so, she only 
left it of her own accord on one occasion, and 
then returned home the next day. 

While confined in this manner the animal 
was fed most erratically — scraps of meat off the 
table, sometimes a cod's head, brought home on 



54 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

market day, and on very rare occasions a roach. 
If there was nothing else, she was given parsnips 
or other vegetable food ; vegetarian diet does not 
nourish an otter, but even in the wild state a 
starved animal will take greenstuff to stave off 
the pangs of hunger. 

When two years old this otter came into 
my possession, and was conveyed from Maries- 
ford to Ipswich without leaving the hutch, in 
order that she should be disturbed as little as 
possible. On her arrival, however, she was 
savage and frightened, and for two days took 
no food. After a time she became accustomed 
to my man, Bullock, and would come to the 
front of the hutch and feed from his hand. A 
fortnight after her arrival she w T as transferred 
to a tin-lined kennel. 

This kennel was placed against the enclosure 
round the pond, so that when the grating in 
front was open the otter was free to roam in 
the enclosure. For a week it was impossible to 
induce her to leave the kennel ; then it occurred 
to my man to pour water on her out of a water- 
ing can. The animal so much objected to this 
procedure that at once she shot out of the kennel 
and retired to a hole among the rocks on the 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 55 

bank. Here she would lie all day, and only 
creep out at dusk. 

In the pond were brow T n trout — Loch Leven 
and rainbow — from a quarter to half a pound 
in weight. For three days the otter was given 
no food, with the idea of seeing whether she 
would fish for herself, but she made no attempt 
to enter the water. The pond was then lowered 
so that there was a small pool with only a foot 
of water over the fish. Still she abstained, and 
in the end I had to feed her to prevent her from 
starving. 

At first, when Bullock or I entered the 
enclosure, she was extremely shy, but, if 
cornered, would spit and snarl at us. If dis- 
lodged from the corner into which she had 
retired, she avoided by every means going into 
the water, and made for some other coign of 
vantage on land. 

After a fortnight the timid animal became 
accustomed to her surroundings, and com- 
menced to take fish from the hand, but still 
nothing would induce her to go into the water. 

I then arranged a gradually sloping bank of 
shingle from the edge of the pond into two feet 
of water. Dead fish were first placed at the 



56 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

water's edge, then under the surface at increas- 
ing depths until, finally, they rested on the 
bottom, two feet below the surface. Still the 
otter made no attempt to swim out to them, but 
walked along the bottom until she reached the 
fish. 

Though she refused to swim, her aversion to 
water was now gone, and she spent a consider- 
able amount of time paddling about or actually 
walking on the bottom under the water. 

Now, when alarmed, she did not hide on 
land, but went into the shallow water under a 
rock, where she would crouch down with only 
her nostrils above the surface. A month passed, 
and yet the otter showed no signs of swimming. 
I then pushed her into three feet of water, and 
she splashed and scrambled across to the other 
side of the pond. A day or two after this a 
friend and I surprised her in the evening; 
alarmed at the sudden appearance of a stranger, 
she plunged into the water with a tremendous 
splash and swam away under the surface, leaving 
a chain of bubbles in her wake. After this she 
invariably dived for her food, and soon learnt to 
enter the water as noiselessly as a wild otter. 

A glance at the photographs opposite pages 




Disturbed. 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 57 

60 and 62 shows the part the tail plays in enabling 
the otter to enter the water without a ripple. In 
these illustrations it will be seen how the power- 
ful tail grips the rock, so that the body slips into 
the water with a steady though rapid movement. 

Though otters require parental instruction to 
persuade them to take to the water and fish, 
many of their habits are inherited, e.g. the otter 
just described had the night instinct very strongly 
developed. If left alone she would lie up all day, 
and only come out at dusk ; her shyness also, to 
a great extent, disappeared with darkness. 

Again, the playful spirit was most marked. 
Although this animal had been shut up in a 
rabbit hutch for two years, after a fortnight's 
freedom on the pond she was at times as skittish 
as a kitten. Before she took to the water, sprats 
were provided on land, and when her appetite 
was satisfied she would throw the glittering fish 
up in the air and catch them again to toss 
them from paw to paw. Later, even when the 
moment before she had been swearing and 
cowering in a corner, as soon as the broom with 
which the enclosure was swept was twirled in 
the water, she could not resist the temptation 
to play, and would circle round and round, now 



58 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

on the top, now pushing it away with her feet, 
yet all the time ready to bolt if a stranger came 
too near. 

It is usual to speak of the otter as a poor 
hunted vagrant, against whom the hand of every 
man is turned, but it appears to me that the 
life of the otter is one of the best. For weeks 
together the animal can fish at night — first for 
food, and then for sport, after which it can 
romp and frolic, and then sleep peacefully 
during the heat of the day. Certainly, keepers 
and water bailiffs wage war on its kind, but 
otters are intelligent, and comparatively few are 
trapped. Occasionally it is hunted, but otter- 
hound packs are not numerous, and many thou- 
sands of otters in Britain have never heard the 
"heu gaze." 

Soon after the young have learnt to fish, the 
dog leaves the family, but the mother and the 
cubs, except for accidents, keep together during 
the summer months. 

Let us follow them during their wanderings. 
The day had been passed in the hollow of an 
old gnarled willow by the side of an overgrown 
ditch. Towards evening the cubs became rest- 
less, but the hover was quite close to a farm- 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 59 

stead, and the shepherd was still at work, so the 
last rays of the sun had faded from the sky 
before the mother allowed her offspring to show 
themselves. As soon as the family — the mother, 
a young dog, and two females — left the willow 
tree, they started straight off at a good swinging 
trot across the meadows down to the river. The 
parent led the way ; there was nothing haphazard 
about her movements, for she had made up her 
mind exactly where she intended her family to 
fish. After travelling nearly a mile, she again 
struck the river. Below was a beautiful pool, one 
hundred yards in length. At the head of this 
stretch of water a rocky bluff had turned the 
river's course, and with its waters confined in 
a narrow channel the restless river swept along 
to fall with a dull roar into the pool. The bluff 
extended as a rocky wall along one side; here 
the water ran deep, and from this wall the bed 
of the river gradually sloped up to a shingly 
bank opposite. 

Full well the old otter knew sea trout and 
salmon had recently run up, and that the fish 
would remain in the deep water until a flood 
enabled them to continue to work upstream. 
Together the family waded into the shallow water 



60 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

at the tail of the pool, and then for some distance 
paddled on the surface ; simultaneously, as if at 
a given signal, mother and cubs dived. At first 
they continued to use both hind and fore limbs 
until they had gained sufficient way, then the fore 
legs were laid back on the chest, and each beast 
continued to propel itself with powerful strokes 
of the hind legs alone. In this manner the 
otters advanced in line along the bottom, in- 
clining their course to right or left by the 
occasional stroke of one or other of the fore 
paws. Suddenly a sea trout shot away in front 
of them. Experience had taught these fishers 
that their prey would take shelter under a 
boulder; in consequence, they now entirely 
altered their tactics, and, with hind legs ex- 
tended on either side of the tail, they paddled 
with the fore paws alone, and in this .way 
diligently searched under each stone. 

It was the dog that flushed the fish, which, 
like a flash, shot downstream. At once, with a 
swish of the hindquarters, he turned as if on a 
pivot and dashed after the trout. Now he struck 
out with all four limbs, and twisted and turned 
more like an eel than an animal as he swam over 
boulder and under shelving rock. 






Otter Searching for Fish. 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 61 

The other otters joined in the chase, but the 
prey continued for a time to escape capture, 
and one by one they had all to come to the 
surface to vent. Down again, and once more 
the fish was flushed. On this occasion the male 
cub got his teeth into the shoulders of the sea 
trout as it doubled back to escape from the old 
otter. 

Still swimming under water, the cub went 
ashore with his prize, and as soon as he reached 
the bank scrambled up the rocks. One of the 
other cubs followed her successful brother 
ashore with the idea of sharing his capture, but 
the dog went for her, bit her on the head, and 
drove her into the water. The mother and two 
cubs now continued to hunt, and before long 
all four otters were chewing their fish, the young 
dog on the rock at the tail of the pool, his 
sisters on a bank of shingle, and the mother on 
a projecting boulder in the middle of the stream. 

The old otter had done most of the work 
and was hungry, so she started at the head of a 
two-pound sea trout and ate it down to the tail, 
only stopping occasionally for a drink. The 
meal finished, she again slipped into the water 
to fish ; a splash of blood and a few scales alone 



62 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

marked the spot where - the trout had been 
devoured. 

The pool still held several fish, and these 
inveterate hunters were loath to leave them, but 
at last the mother went ashore, shook herself, 
and commenced to roll on the shingle and rub 
the back of her neck on the small stones, for 
now that her hunger was satisfied she had time 
to think of the irritation caused by the tics 
attached to her skin where she could not reach 
them with her teeth. Two of the cubs were 
at play ; one moment they appeared to spar, 
next instant, locked in a friendly embrace, they 
rolled over and over like a ball into the water. 
The third toyed with a fish like a cat plays with 
a mouse, and time after time knocked it into 
the stream, then dived in and fetched it out 
again. But the frolicking of the cubs in the 
water was too much for the other two, and 
presently they were all at play in the pool. 
Suddenly the old otter broke away and swam 
ashore, shook herself, gave a half whine, half 
whistle, and started upstream, and before she 
was at the head of the pool the cubs were at her 
heels. The mother led the way across two 
meadows, past a pool — where the young otters 







The Mother Otter Finishes a Two-pound Sea Trout. 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 63 

wished to tarry — then along the river bank, until 
they arrived where two streams joined to form 
the river up which they had travelled. Below 
the junction was a deep pool with a spit of 
yellow sand on the opposite bank. The otters 
entered the water and again fished, then they 
landed, and here they left on the damp sand the 
tell-tale seal or footprint. This was the only 
sign on the following day of the fishing 
party, for the rats and gulls soon cleared 
away the remnants of any fish that had been 
left. 

A glow in the sky towards the east now in- 
dicated the approach of dawn, and the behaviour 
of the otters at once changed. Alternatively 
swimming, floating or wading, they dropped 
downstream without another thought of play, 
past the rocky pool where they had started to 
fish, past the opening of the ditch, up which 
they had "hovered" the previous day, to a 
pool a mile farther down the river. Here the 
mother landed on the bank, passed through the 
rushes, and led her cubs to a dry drain fifty 
yards from the river. By this time the hills were 
rimmed by the glow of the rising sun. 

It was daylight when the otters reached their 



64 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

resting place ; perhaps the mother was trusting 
to the low-lying mist to hide, her offspring from 
prying eyes. In the drain each animal licked 
itself all over, then, huddled together, they fell 
asleep. 

An hour before dusk there was a movement 
in the rushes, and the mother crept out on to 
the shingle; carefully she turned from side to 
side and sniffed the air, then slipped into the 
river and came up in the middle of the pool, 
where she raised herself in the water and looked 
round. Satisfied that all was clear, she returned 
to the drain, and in a few minutes reappeared 
with the cubs. It was evident that something 
was afoot, for silently they fished in the pool, 
and after a trout apiece they started to travel at 
a rapid rate upstream. At dawn the family had 
followed the course of the river as they dropped 
down to their hover, but now the mother left 
the water and made across the fields, past the 
hover in the willow tree, and then on to the 
rocky pool where they had fished the previous 
night. By this route she cut off a great sweep 
of the river. The old otter had no intention of 
stopping to fish in the pool, and she continued 
her course over the rocks, but the dog cub 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 65 

silently slipped into the water. The rest of the 
party had passed the bluff at the head of the 
pool and were crossing the meadow above before 
the mother noticed his absence; at once she 
stopped and whistled, but there was no response, 
so she went on with the two smaller cubs. 
Every now and then the mother repeated the 
whistle, and at last there was an answering note. 
Though the mother knew she had many miles to 
cover before dawn, her maternal instinct caused 
her to slacken her pace, and presently the errant 
dog joined the family. Next they reached the 
pool where the two streams met, and here they 
fished, but not for long, for the mother had 
made her plans before she left the hover, and 
very soon turned up the stream to the left. 
Hurrying along, the family passed under an old 
Roman bridge over which Cromwell had led his 
Ironsides, then through the arches of a more 
modern structure better adapted to take the 
traffic of the present day ; past a big house high 
up on the river bank where some studious 
individuals were burning the midnight oil, then 
again through wood and meadow until they came 
to the outskirts of a town. As the otters fol- 
lowed the river, the towering walls of a cotton 

F 



66 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

mill loomed above them. Suddenly the mother 
stopped and crouched in the shallow water at the 
foot of the wall, for she had heard a throbbing 
sound in the distance — the sound became louder 
and louder until a flood of light swept round the 
bend of the road which ran by the riverside, and 
a motor-car passed over the bridge which 
spanned the water a hundred yards farther up. 
The motor passed, the otters hurried on and 
never stopped until they were clear of all signs 
of man. Now the scenery changed, and out- 
crops of rock caused the river to twist and turn 
and travel alternately through deep pot-hole and 
over shallow run. 

It was at the largest of these pot-holes that 
the parent stopped, and the otters commenced 
to fish. Now it was evident why the ott~r had 
brought her cubs miles up the river, for as they 
searched the pool they found two fish nearly as 
long, almost as strong, but more active in the 
jvater than even an otter; they were salmon, 
and had run up with the last flood. The hunt 
was long and furious, but in the end the com- 
bined effort of the family was too much for the 
fish. Two clean-run salmon were hauled ashore 
and devoured to the accompaniment of much 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 67 

hissing and snarling ; the family then lay up for 
the day in a cleft among the rocks. 

Such are the happy nights and days of the 
otter. True, a gamekeeper might have been 
standing on the Roman bridge and put a charge 
of shot into one of the cubs ; if so, it would have 
been a painless death, and though the mother 
and the other cubs would have been scared, they 
would have hunted and killed their salmon all 
the same. 

The seal of the otters might have been 
noticed as they passed from the hover in the 
willow tree to fish in the rocky pool, and a trap 
placed on their track in the hope that on the 
following night they would travel the same way. 
This they certainly did, but the old otter had 
already lost two toes in a gin, and it was very 
unlikely that she would be caught tripping twice. 

What of the dog, the father of the family 
whose wanderings we have just followed ? When 
he left the care of the cubs to the mother the 
roving spirit took possession of him, and on the 
second night he arrived at the very source of the 
river. After killing a few spawning fish, he left 
the shallow waters and travelled across country 
to a large reservoir on the other side of the hills. 



68 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

This reservoir provided the water supply for a 
town forty miles away, and had been built about 
six years. No sooner was the work of holding 
up a huge volume of water completed than fifty 
thousand trout fry were turned in. There was 
practically no natural food in the newly-built 
reservoir, so that as soon as the stronger of the 
fry grew slightly larger than their brethren they 
became cannibals, with the result that when the 
otter arrived, instead of finding a well-stocked 
sheet of water, this lake held but a few hundred 
fish of two to three pounds in weight. These 
large fish never rose to a fly, and during the day 
rested in the deep waters in the centre. 

In the morning, and occasionally on a warm 
summer evening, they swam round the shores 
and fed on the minnows which now were plenti- 
ful among the vegetation which had grown up 
at the shallow end of the reservoir. As the trout 
swam round the minnows made for the shore, 
and the large fish splashed and almost threw 
themselves on the bank as they chased the shoals. 

The otter arrived at the reservoir at dawn, 
and though he fished hard he caught nothing, for 
the water was sixty feet deep in the centre, and 
when he chased a trout the fish made for the 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 69 

depths and disappeared. So the old dog left the 
water without a meal, and retired to a bed of 
rushes near the water's edge. Deliberately he 
bit off several stems and arranged them round in 
the form of a rude nest, then he turned round 
and round to make a comfortable hole in which 
to lie. Next he turned on his back and licked 
his chest and body all over. At last, satisfied 
with his toilet, he curled up like a cat and was 
soon asleep. He had not been asleep for more 
than an hour or two when he was awakened by 
the violent splashing of a big trout only a few 
yards from his hover. It was broad daylight, 
but the seclusion at the top end of the reservoir 
appeared to give the animal confidence ; he was 
out of the rushes in a moment and into the water, 
and no sooner was he in the water than he was 
out again with a glorious golden trout — he had 
taken the feeding fish unawares. Next night 
he again fished unsuccessfully, so left for fresh 
feeding grounds and followed the overflow from 
the reservoir. This led him through boggy land, 
overgrown with coarse grass and cotton plant. 
There were no fish in the water, so the otter 
turned his attention to frogs and young plover. 
He now left the high ground and struck a stream 



70 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

in the valley below, where he returned to a trout 
diet. When the sport was good he stayed a day 
or two, but the roving spirit was still upon him, 
and he continued to follow the river towards the 
sea. Three times he met other otters during his 
journey, but passed them unheeded. 

At last his wanderings brought him to a fish- 
ing village at the mouth of the river; this he 
passed through at dead of night and found him- 
self in the sea. 

The bay held hundreds of salmon and sea 
trout ready to travel up with the first flood, and 
in the salt water the otter took his toll. Then 
the animal travelled along the coast, where he 
fed on flat-fish, mullet and bass, and as he swam 
with a sinuous movement among the rocks his 
body had more the appearance of a conger than 
an otter. 

Occasionally he made excursions inland to 
various ponds and streams, and once to a fish 
hatchery, where he nearly lost his life. In the 
autumn he returned over the moors to his old 
haunts ; later he fought a battle, won a mate, and 
for a time again settled down into family life. 
That summer he met a pack of the otter hounds ; 
he was a big, proud beast, and when pressed he 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 71 

simply turned round, faced the pack, and died 
righting. 

During a hard winter the otter's lot, like that 
of many another wild animal, is not an enviable 
one. In districts such as I have described the 
rivers do not freeze and the open sea is not far 
distant, but floods make fishing difficult and food 
is scarce, and when the snow is on the ground the 
otter is easily tracked and shot or trapped. 

In Fen districts, where the otter has to fish 
in sluggish streams and shallow lakes, the animal 
is often in a desperate plight when the water 
freezes. For a time he may be able to keep a hole 
open and fish under the ice, but during a hard 
winter he has to turn to rats, water-fowl and even 
poultry for a living. An old marshman at Acle 
once described to me how two otters fished in a 
dyke under the ice for several days; they kept 
two holes open and swam from one to the other. 

In 1911 the animals on my observation pond 
were frozen out, so I broke a hole for them and 
they kept it open themselves by biting away the 
ice. These otters, however, kept the hole open 
so as to be able to get into the water for a swim, 
and possibly with the idea of chasing a fish under 
the ice ; it certainly was not hunger with them, 



72 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

for during this hard spell food was provided on 
land. 

Occasionally stress of circumstances drives 
the starving otter to human habitations, and here 
the poor brute often gets but scant sympathy. 
Nothing could be more revolting than the treat- 
ment meted out to one at Aldeburgh, as 
recorded in the local press. The animal was 
found in the back yard of the Aldeburgh Times 
office ; he greedily ate some fish brought to him, 
and then escaped into a hay loft. The populace 
then turned out and hunted him with sticks and 
guns, and ultimately he was shot. 

I have known of two or three similar cases. 

I have written this account of the wanderings 
of an otter family so as to give the reader who 
knows nothing of the animal a general idea of 
its life. This account is mainly founded on the 
observations of the otter in the wild state and 
on my ponds, but there are certain character- 
istics to which I would allude more fully. 

Reference has been made to the playfulness 
of the otter. After the animal has eaten all it 
requires, not only does it toy with fish on the 
bank, but it plays with its prey in a similar 
manner under the water. The three photo- 




Otter Playing with Pike under Water. 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 73 

graphs from cinematograph film show this well. 
On one occasion an otter on the pond after a 
good chase caught and landed a 3-lb. pike. She 
then deliberately pushed the fish into the water, 
and a second chase ensued; a second time the 
fish was carried ashore and again pushed into the 
pond. The pike by now was exhausted, and in 
a dazed state sulked on the bottom; the otter 
tried to stir it up, but when this failed she caught 
the pike by the snout and threw it over her head, 
as shown in the illustration. The fish was then 
carried ashore and all but one-third of it 
devoured. The otter evidently was hungry, but 
she wished to get the maximum of amusement 
out of the pike before she started her meal. 

A gliding movement particularly appeals to 
the otter. Spreadeagled, the animal may be 
content to float on the surface of a swift-running 
stream ; at other times it selects a spot where the 
water, penned into a narrow channel, sweeps 
down to the pool below. Here time after time 
it will dive into the entrance of the channel and 
allow itself to be carried down head first into the 
seething water below, and then with a graceful 
bend of the body swing up to the surface. 

The perfection of gliding is reached when the 



74 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

otter makes a slide. Personally, I have never 
seen an otter slide, but W. T. Long gives a very 
fine description of one in his " Beasts of the 
Field." This slide was twenty feet high and 
had been made with much care on one side of a 
promontory that jutted into the river. Here a 
pair of otters spent ' 6 the better part of a sunny 
afternoon sliding down a clay bank with endless 
delight." 

Old Moon described to me how on one occa- 
sion he tracked an otter for four miles in the 
snow. At last he came to a smooth, frozen 
slide on a long bank that sloped right down to 
the water's edge. On one side the snow was 
trodden down by the animals as they climbed to 
the top. It would appear to be a cold form of 
amusement, flying head first down an icy slide 
into freezing water, but apparently an otter does 
not mind the cold, for, as I have stated, those 
on my pond used to swim about under the ice, 
though their food was given to them on land. 

In the more populated parts of the British 
Isles the otter is almost entirely nocturnal in its 
habits, but in less-frequented areas it is often 
seen abroad long after sunrise. I have watched 
an otter kill a grilse on a bright summer morn- 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 75 

ing in the Hebrides, and the instance related 
on page 64 of how the mother went into the 
river to have a look round before allowing her 
cubs to leave the hover, occurred at least an hour 
before sunset. 

In many parts of the world the otter fishes 
throughout the day, and in 1917 I watched one 
at work during the afternoon in the River Auja 
on the Jaffa — Jerusalem front. 

The otters on my observation pond were with 
me for nearly a year. The first arrival was the 
tame female, whose early life had been spent in 
a rabbit-hutch, but soon after she was joined by 
a wild dog and bitch from Ireland. 

The wild bitch never settled down, and so, 
after a month, was released on a Yorkshire 
estate. 

At one time I had hopes that the dog and 
the tame otter would breed, but in this I was 
disappointed. I cannot, however, find any 
authentic record of otters breeding in captivity, 
though the experiment has been tried on several 
occasions. 

At first the dog was an ugly customer to deal 
with, and bit both myself and my man on more 
than one occasion. After a month or two he 



76 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

tolerated our entrance into the enclosure, and 
would take food from the hand, but was always 
surly "in demeanour. The manner in which an 
understanding first came about between us was 
as follows : 

The old dog was lying near the iron bars of 
the enclosure when I detected numerous large 
white tics on the back of his neck, so I scratched 
the skin with a stick through the bars. This he 
thoroughly appreciated, and when I entered the 
enclosure he allowed me to continue the scratch- 
ing. The next day I gradually shortened my 
hold on the stick until, finally, I was allowed to 
scratch with my fingers. For several days I 
continued at intervals to scratch in this manner, 
and occasionally I picked off a tic until, at 
length, they were all removed. After this he 
would usually allow his neck to be rubbed, but 
immediately resented an attempt to touch any 
other part of his body. 

Otters taken as cubs are very easily tamed, 
and make delightful pets, but when two years 
old the " call of the wild " will be too strong for 
the animal, and, if free, it will go. 

I have already described how the mother and 
her cubs work together when on a fishing excur- 




Who goes there ? " 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 77 

sion ; I will take this opportunity of giving two 
instances of combined action by otters as related 
to me by a friend who spent many years in 
India. On one occasion he was lying on a 
backwater of the Ganges in order to shoot 
crocodiles; this backwater was about two hun- 
dred feet wide and some two miles in length. 
Presently he heard the whistling of several 
otters, and then saw six or seven swimming down 
abreast right across the water. They continued 
to whistle to each other for a time, and then, as 
if at some given signal, all dived below the sur- 
face, to reappear again practically simultaneously 
farther on. This method of fishing was con- 
tinued the whole length of the backwater, and 
in this manner the fish were driven to the end. 
Every now and then one of their number caught 
a rahu — a carp of 6 lb. to 8 lb. in weight. 
The otter that had made the capture fell out of 
the line and took his fish ashore, while the others 
continued to advance. On the bank the animal 
devoured a portion of the fish and then rapidly 
rejoined his comrades. 

The remains of any carp left in this manner 
were not wasted, for up in the air the Brahmini 
kite, commonly known as the fish-hawk, fol- 



78 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

lowed up the otters and greedily devoured their 
leavings. 

On another occasion my friend was duck- 
shooting on the River Sarju in the province of 
Oude. He was floating down the river in a boat 
and had his retriever with him. Outside a bed 
of reeds an otter swam across in front of the 
boat, and the dog immediately jumped over- 
board. The otter did not dive, as might have 
been expected, but raised itself in the water and 
whistled loudly. When the dog was within a 
yard of the beast it dived, reappeared behind the 
retriever, and again raised itself and continued 
to whistle ; each time the animal whistled it 
appeared to look round as if it expected assist- 
ance. At last three or four otters appeared in 
the water, dived, and attacked the dog from 
below, as the yelps of the retriever indicated. 
My friend went to the rescue and drove them 
off, and when he lifted his retriever into the 
boat he found that its back and side had been 
bitten in several places. 

During the time that I have kept otters in 
captivity I have had several opportunities to 
observe the extent to which some of their special 
senses are developed. 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 79 

The animal sees well at all times, but at 
night its sight is remarkable. However dark the 
night, any of the otters could catch a single fish 
released into the pond. Their sight was equally 
good for seeing objects other than fish. 

On one occasion I heard the animals fighting 
at night, so I got up to find out the cause of 
the disturbance. As it was pitch dark, I picked 
up a brass candlestick in the hall in order to 
find my way down to the pond ; attached to the 
candlestick was a pair of old-fashioned snuffers. 
When I got down to the pond all was again 
quiet, and I could not see an otter anywhere, 
but while I was looking round the snuffers be- 
came detached from the candlestick and fell into 
about two feet of water; I was preparing to 
mark the spot with a view to recovery next 
morning when I heard a tinkle on the stones; 
an otter had retrieved the snuffers and was 
having a game on the opposite bank. It was 
so dark I could not see my hand in front of me, 
but the snuffers were seized as soon as they fell 
into the water. 

I experimented later by throwing small shells 
into the water, and these were invariably re- 
covered, however dark the night. 



80 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

The hearing of the otter is probably as acute 
as that of most wild animals, but the sense of 
smell appears to be more highly developed than 
usual. 

I have frequently heard it suggested that 
otters smell their prey under the water. With 
this I do not agree. If the otter depended on 
smell to find his fish he would not hunt in the 
methodical manner he usually employs. An 
otter can, however, detect the variation in the 
smell of man from a considerable distance. A 
keen naturalist was most anxious to watch the 
otters on my pond, and tried to do so on 
several occasions, but long before he came 
up to the pond one particular otter would 
invariably start to snarl and upset the others, 
and nothing would induce them to behave in 
a reasonable manner while the stranger was 
present. 

Before considering the influence of the otter 
upon our fisheries I would draw attention to but 
one other point, and that is the remarkable 
agility of the animal under the water. To 
illustrate these rapid movements eight pictures 
are shown, cut from three feet of cinematograph 
film. 






Otter turning in the Water after a Fish. 

(From Cinematograph Film.) 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 81 

The movements illustrated occupied two or 
three seconds. 

In the first photograph (No. 2 in the illustra- 
tions) the otter has spotted the fish above him 
and has checked his progress by planting his 
fore feet on the ground. The fish, after a few 
rapid movements, as shown by the attitudes of 
the animal, shot down under a stone on the left. 
The otter now left the ground with a kick-off of 
his hind legs and a downward swish of the 
rudder, and finally scrambled on to his fish, as 
shown in photograph No. 9. 

Fish are undoubtedly the favourite food of 
the otter. Of fresh fish he much prefers the eel. 
When my captive otters were shown eels they 
at once became excited and their shyness to a 
great extent disappeared. They also have a 
partiality for trout and grayling, particularly the 
latter, but no coarse fish comes amiss. Otters 
also feed on frogs, and young birds and even 
small animals are taken when fishing fails. 

Fond as I am of the otter, there is no gain- 
saying the fact he takes a terrible toll of sizable 
fish, and in a small stream a protracted visit from 
a family will ruin the fishing. 

There is a general idea that the otter is a 



82 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

fastidious feeder and that he only eats a choice 
morsel out of the shoulder of a fish. This is 
entirely incorrect ; the otter is not at all particu- 
lar what he eats and will devour fish that has 
been killed some time. When the animal leaves 
his hover at night he devours every morsel of 
the first few fish ; he starts at the head and eats 
down to the tail. 

When his hunger is appeased he may con- 
tinue to catch fish for sport, and it is then that 
he takes a bite or two out of the shoulder, as it 
were, for luck. 

When fish are scarce, and catching them 
entails considerable trouble, the otter ceases its 
fishing as soon as its appetite is satisfied, and this 
is when he amuses himself in some other way. 
When fish are plentiful and scatter in all direc- 
tions as he swims through a pool he cannot resist 
killing. 

The best example I know of this is that of 
the wild otter from Ireland. This animal came 
over in a box, and on the evening of her arrival 
I took the box down to the water's edge. As 
soon as she was released she dived into the water, 
and came out on the other side with a roach in 
her mouth. This she at once dropped, and 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 83 

bolted for some rocks, where she hid up for two 
days. 

On her arrival this otter must have been 
thoroughly scared, as her subsequent behaviour 
proved, but as she went through the water she 
flushed this roach and instinctively seized it. 
The same otter never became tame enough to be 
interesting, and, as I have stated, was released 
a month after her arrival. 

As an instance of the killing of fish for mere 
sport I quote an incident related to me by Mr. 
W. H. Armistead, of the Solway Fishery 
Company. On one occasion three otters visited 
his yearling ponds, and during the night killed 
two thousand fish. One can imagine how these 
beasts raced through the water and saw red as 
they seized. one fish after another. 

Like all other wild animals, the otter at the 
present time is not nearly so common as he was 
a century ago. In wilder districts there are still 
plenty to be found, and so long as the otter is 
hunted there is no fear of his extermination in 
more populous areas, for notwithstanding all one 
heard about " sport " after the war, there will 
always be sporting landowners who will preserve 
otters in otter-hunting districts. 



84 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

The common seal still visits our shores in 
small numbers, and recently I watched some 
fishing in the sea off the coast of Cornwall. On 
many of the outer islands north of Scotland both 
the common and the grey seal land in consider- 
able numbers. Doubtless during the war they 
have become still more plentiful. 

In 1907 I paid a visit to a whaling station 
near Tarbert, on the island of Harris, and in 
the spring of 1914 I again visited this station 
with my brother. Our intention was to spend 
some time on one of the more distant islands, 
so as to observe the feeding habits of gulls, 
unaffected by the influence of man. On my 
second visit I found that the old Norwegian 
manager of the whaling station had passed away, 
but his place had been taken by his son, who 
remembered me and so offered to take my 
brother and myself up to Rona on a whaler. 

Rona is an island some six miles in circum- 
ference and is situated about forty miles north 
of the Butt of Lewis. Countless sea birds of 
many varieties build on the island, and the pre- 
cipitous cliffs are covered with kittiwakes and 
divers of all sorts. When the weather permits 
the common and the grey seal land in large 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 85 

numbers at one end of the island, and on an 
adjacent rock. 

Before dealing with the habits of seals, it may 
be of interest if I describe our time on this 
isolated island. 

Some forty years ago Rona was inhabited by 
a family of about thirty individuals, who carried 
on primitive cultivation and bred sheep. During 
the winter these crofters were held up for many 
months at a time on their little island and war- 
ships had frequently to go to their relief. Ulti- 
mately the population was taken off and given 
holdings on the mainland. 

Our Norwegian friend, my brother and I 
duly arrived, jumped on the rocks, while some 
provisions and an old sail were thrown ashore. 
In the centre of the island the four walls of a 
small croft were still standing, and these we 
roofed with the sail. Adjoining the croft was 
the cemetery, which consisted of several mounds 
and a single gravestone over the body of the last 
chief. Near by were the ruins of a chapel. 
Under the chapel was a vault, some ten feet 
square, which was full of the bones of sea birds 
and sheep. It was evidently the home of some 
carnivorous animal, and we found marks indicat- 



86 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

ing where it came in through a hole in the wall. 
In a day or two the Norwegian left us and 
promised to send a whaler to take us off in three 
days. Man proposes but the Atlantic disposes, 
and we spent ten days on that island before we 
were able to get away. The weather was rough, 
but safe on land we were able to enjoy the 
magnificence of the storm. At times the whole 
island was swept with spray, but there were 
intervals of sunshine, during which we dried. 
When the sea calmed down, seals innumerable 
landed on the rocks. One evening in the dusk 
we disturbed a large animal, which bolted down 
the cliff; it was too dark to recognise what it 
was, but this was obviously the carnivorous beast 
that lived in the vault of the chapel and whom 
we had disturbed. It was not until we were in 
Stornoway on our way home that we found out 
what the beast really was. 

When the crofters were taken off the island 
a few sheep were accidentally left; at the time 
of our visit there were about one hundred and 
fifty head. Once a year, when the weather per- 
mits, the original owners land and take toll of 
this flock. On one occasion a storm sprang up 
and the shepherds had to leave suddenly without 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 87 

their dog. This was the wild beast of Rom, and 
our description of it at Stornoway caused con- 
siderable amusement. It had been on the 
island for two years, and certainly was wild, and 
up to that time had evaded all attempts to 
capture or shoot it. 

Owing to our prolonged stay on the island 
our provisions ran short, but there were plenty of 
fresh gulls' eggs and we borrowed a lamb. The 
only trouble was the water; this was brackish, 
and the gulls bathed in the hole where it 
welled up ! 

To return to the seals. Both common and 
grey seals landed on a large rock near by. Un- 
fortunately the boat in which we landed was 
broken up during the storm, and so we had to 
content ourselves with watching these animals 
through our glasses. 

The seal is an animal capable of withstanding 
great privation, and its powers of endurance are 
extraordinary. During the winter it has to 
maintain itself in the tempestuous ocean for long 
periods without landing, which must entail con- 
stant exertion on the part of this air-breathing 
animal. At night these beasts barked and 
howled below us, but during the day they either 



88 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

fished or basked in the sunshine on the rocks. 
Here they appeared thoroughly to enjoy the 
quiet time after the rough and tumble of the 
recent storm. 

The quantity of fish that a seal devours is 
enormous. Before the war Scandinavian coun- 
tries offered rewards for their destruction, and 
very large numbers were killed annually. Like 
the otter, the seal hunts his fish systematically. 
Many years ago I once watched a young seal 
fishing in a large rock pool. Slowly he worked 
his way through each mass of seaweed. As soon 
as a fish was flushed he was after it like a flash, 
caught it, and then came to the surface and 
devoured his prey. In addition to fish, seal eat 
crabs and other crustaceans. 

The common seal is a small animal, seldom 
exceeding five feet in length. It becomes ex- 
tremely tame in captivity. Doubtless many of 
my readers have seen Captain Woodward's per- 
forming sea-lions. The part of the clown in 
the performance was taken by a common seal. 
When Captain Woodward went to South Africa 
with his troupe, the understudy to the clown, an 
animal about four feet in length, took up his 
abode at the Zoological Gardens. From London 




Searching for Fish. 




Swinging up to the Surface. 

The Common Seal. 



THE OTTER AND SEAL 89 

he paid a visit to Ipswich, and for a time lived 
on one of my ponds. He arrived in a packing 
case. When the case was opened he ate half 
a dozen herrings from the hand, then scrambled 
out and flopped into the water. This seal was 
with me in 1913. There was a railway strike 
on at the time which affected the supply of fish, 
and I soon found out what a very expensive 
visitor a seal can be. I procured, however, a 
large number of live roach in the district and 
watched and photographed the animal fishing. 
Though very clumsy on the land, the agility of 
the seal under the water is wonderful. He 
twisted and turned with the greatest ease in his 
own length, and frequently caught his fish by 
coming up beneath it, with the under part of his 
body uppermost. 

A large fish he would bring to the surface 
and slowly chew while he balanced himself in 
perpendicular position in the water. Small fish 
he swallowed below the surface. When he took 
a herring he partially closed his teeth, and as the 
fish was sucked down a shower of scales flew off 
the body of the fish. 

On the plate opposite page 88 is a photograph 
of the animal searching for fish, and the lower 



go ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

illustration on the same plate shows him swing- 
ing up to the surface to breathe. 

With the otter, bubbles of air continue to 
escape from the nostrils while the animal is under 
water, which makes the chain. The seal, how- 
ever, keeps the nostrils tight closed under water, 
and as soon as he comes to the surface he widely 
dilates them, and blows the foul air out of his 
lungs. 

After a good feed this animal would scramble 
on to a large rock by the side of the w T ater and 
digest his meal. Here he would lie for an hour 
or two unless disturbed by our fox terrier. It 
was the delight of this dog to bark and jump 
round the resting beast until finally the seal could 
stand it no longer and plunged into the pond. 
The seal then swam under water to the other 
side, but the terrier was there before him and 
barked furiously as the seal's head appeared. 
The seal never took it very seriously and was 
more disgusted than annoyed. The proceeding, 
however, gave several opportunities to photo- 
graph the facial expression of a seal as shown 
on the plate opposite. 




Peace. 




Alarm. 




Retreat. 

The Common Seal. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE HERON 

BEFORE I describe the appearance of a 
wader as seen from below the water I will 
refer to one or two points, already dealt with 
in the first chapter, so far as they affect the 
appearance of wading birds. 

When a wader stands on the shore by the 
edge of the water the observer below the surface 
can only see the dwarfed and distorted image of 
the head, or head and shoulders. This image 
appears as if up in a gallery above the arc of the 
observer's " window." The amount of the bird 
visible in this position depends upon the distance 
between it and the observer, and whether it is 
right down by the water's edge or on a higher 
level. All objects beyond, such as reeds in the 
water, a tree on the bank, a distant wood, appear 
in a like manner above the observer. Further, 
all these objects seem to be on the same 
plane, and the pattern made by the plumage 

91 



92 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

of the wader blends into this combined 
landscape. 

When a bird stands in the water the observer 
below the surface sees the upper portion of 
the wader as described, but in addition he 
sees the legs in their true position under the 
water. 

On the plate opposite a young heron is shown 
standing in a stream. The legs of the bird cut 
the water at the level of the arrow. The lower 
portion of the same plate shows how these legs 
appear to the observer under the water. An 
arrow again shows where they enter the water. 
All above this level is merely reflection from the 
surface. 

I will next draw attention to the illustrations 
of the heron seen above the arc of the observer's 
" window." 

On the plate opposite page 94 are three 
photographs. The first is a picture of one of 
my observation ponds, with a stuffed heron 
placed in the water. It is in the position 
assumed by a heron preparatory to striking a 
fish. On the right is shown the appearance 
of this stuffed bird seen from eighteen inches 
below the surface and at a distance of three 




Heron Fishing. 



Photographed simultaneously from above and below the Water. 
(The Arrows mark the point at which the legs enter the water. 
In the lower picture all above the arrow is merely a reflection.) 



THE HERON 93 

feet. The heavy dotted white line defines 
the arc of the ' ' window " ; a lighter line has 
been run round the compressed image of the 
heron. The adult bird has a dark patch of 
plumage on either side of the head and on the 
wings. These marks are shown in the photo- 
graph of the stuffed specimen. Seen from 
below, the black patches on the head stick up 
as two horns, while the light plumage on the 
top of the head blends with the grey sky beyond. 
Towards the right the back of the bird has an 
appearance similar to the tree-tops eighty feet 
away. On the left the dark wing-patch blends 
with the trees. 

Next, without moving the bird, reeds were 
placed in the water seven feet behind. It will 
be seen how the dark markings on the head fit 
in with the pattern made by these reeds against 
the sky. This photograph represents exactly 
the appearance at dusk, and gives a fair indica- 
tion of how the bird, the reeds, and the trees 
all appear to be on the same plane, and how the 
head and body of the wader are absorbed into 
the general pattern. 

To get a better representation of the under- 
water view of the surface the reader should raise 



94 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

the book above the level of the head, with the 
arms extended at an angle of forty-five degrees 
to the body, then twist the book until the photo- 
graph is in a horizontal position. 

The surface of water beyond the arc of the 
" window" is dark because of insufficient 
photographic exposure. It is impossible to 
get a correct photographic exposure for the 
"window" and for the area of total reflection 
on the same plate in consequence of the bright 
light through the " window." 

I have taken the heron as an example because 
of its bold plumage marks. 

Waders that show less contrast are equally 
well concealed with rushes and reeds behind them. 

Colour is also of value to the wader. In 1917 
I watched flamingoes in the water at the mouth 
of the Wadi Guzzee in Palestine, and it struck 
me then how well the crimson of their plumage 
would blend with the ruddy sky which rimmed 
the "window " of an Eastern fish. 

To return to the heron. If the bird is really 
concealed from the fish, as I have described, it 
should be possible for it to stand in clear water 
and catch as many fish as it requires. Provided 
that the fish are there and that the water is suit- 












Heron as seen from above and below the Water. 



THE HERON 95 

able for wading, this is exactly what the heron 
can and does do. I will give examples of the 
numbers of fish taken by herons — numbers 
which it would be impossible for them to catch 
unless they were concealed from their prey. 

On December 22nd, 1913, the late Mr. 
Hudson, of Ipswich, shot two herons on the 
Orwell, an adult and a young bird. In the 
gullet of the old bird he found one complete 
whiting, and later, when I examined the semi- 
digested contents, I found otoliths, lenses and 
bones, as shown on the plate facing page 96. 
Among the contents were seventy-six otoliths 
similar to those shown on the top row, which 
indicated that this heron had taken no fewer 
than thirty-nine whiting within the previous 
twelve hours. The next two rows are the eye 
lenses and vertebrae of these fish taken at various 
periods during the twelve hours. The bottom 
row shows otoliths triturated down from the sizes 
illustrated to a disappearing point. These were 
from whiting taken on the previous day. The 
young bird had taken thirty -one whiting. Both 
these birds came from a heronry in the middle of 
a wood on the banks of the Orwell. 

On one occasion, on a platform up in a tree, 



96 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

I spent three days watching the feeding habits 
of the birds in this heronry. 

Though the adult heron will devour rats, 
water voles, shrews, toads, frogs, shellfish, 
shrimps and young birds, the young at the 
heronry were fed almost entirely on fish. 

The old birds appeared above the wood in 
April, and for several days wheeled round and 
round the tall tree-tops before they commenced 
to repair the nests used during the previous 
breeding season. Early in May each nest con- 
tained three, sometimes four, eggs. While the 
birds were sitting comparative peace reigned at 
the heronry. As soon, however, as the young 
hatched, the wood resounded night and day with 
the guttural notes of the old herons and the cries 
of the young as the parents returned to the nests 
from the fishing-ground. The fledglings were 
fed frequently, and I have seen a parent return 
with food eleven times within two hours. The 
older birds were fed early in the morning and 
again in the evening. 

The fish brought to the young were mainly 
eels. A young heron only three weeks old 
was often given an eel of half a pound in 
weight. At first the parents regurgitated the 



litllMlit fr> 



<> 




A Heron's Meal : 39 Whiting in One Night. 



THE HERON 97 

partly digested fish right down into the pouch 
of the young bird. Later the old heron brought 
up an eel, introduced the head into the gullet 
of its offspring, and then pushed it down inch 
by inch. Before the young herons fly the food 
is dropped into the nest from above, and they 
pick it up for themselves. 

I made careful observations of the amount 
of food fishes taken to the young, and I also 
carried out experiments on the rate of digestion. 
The heronry consisted of fifty nests, and as a 
result of my observations I estimated that the 
young and old birds consumed forty-five tons of 
fish during the months of May, June, July and 
August. 

It seems to me quite impossible that herons 
should be able to catch anything like this 
quantity of fish unless they are invisible to their 
prey; but the ease with which this bird can 
catch the wily trout is conclusive proof to my 
mind that the heron is concealed from the fish. 

Some years ago two friends and I stocked a 
stream near Ipswich. This stream was ten 
miles from the heronry described. When it was 
high water on the Orwell some of the birds flew 
over to the stream. On one afternoon I watched 

H 



98 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

a heron take three fish, then I crawled up and 
shot the bird. It contained seven trout over six 
inches in length — fish with which we had stocked 
the water. Eels and roach were also there, but it 
was the trout that the heron was specially after. 

As a boy, my cousins and I, one summer 
holiday, caught several hundred trout in a 
mountain stream, and turned them into a 
shallow pond. Very soon we noticed a heron 
used to come down to the pond each evening. 
We thought it was probably after the trout, but 
never realised how this bird was taking out the 
fish as fast as we put them in. The pond was 
emptied soon after, and only three trout re- 
mained ! Not only can the heron deceive small 
trout, but it is equally successful with large fish. 

The question as to the extent of damage done 
to trout and salmon fisheries by herons has often 
been discussed in the Press. The amount of 
damage entirely depends upon the nature of the 
water. Herons will take trout whenever they 
get the opportunity. The time when they are 
most harmful, however, is during the spawning 
season. Many a trout too large for the bird to 
swallow has been speared by a heron as it 
struggled through shoal water on its way 
upstream. 





Heron disturbed while Fishing. 



CHAPTER V 

GULLS 

THE plumage of surface-feeding gulls is 
mainly white; sometimes the back is black 
or grey, and a few gulls have a black head, but 
the breast and abdomen are always white. 

On the other hand, the skuas — which belong 
to the same family as gulls and terns — have a 
mottled-brown plumage. These variations in 
plumage conceal the various birds in the con- 
ditions under which they procure their food. 
That is to say, I consider the plumage of gulls 
as aggressive rather than protective. 

When a white-breasted bird swims towards 
a fish its body is masked by reflection until 
it appears in the fish's " window." Opposite 
page 100 are two photographs of the lesser black- 
backed gull, and on the next plate the same 
bird is shown as seen from below the surface. 
Only a suggestion of the body of the bird 
can be detected. It is small wonder, then, 

99 



ioo ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

that the surface-swimming fish does not detect 
the approach of its enemy until too late. (This 
description, of course, merely applies to the 
appearance of the bird in the area of total 
reflection.) 

When the fish looks upward he sees the head 
of the gull above the arc of its "window,"* 
when the head is white it is not easily detected 
against the sky. The best colour scheme, how- 
ever, for a bird in this position is a white head 
and dark shoulders or a dark head and white 
shoulders. With the plumage marked in this 
manner, the compressed image of the head and 
shoulders of the bird appears as an interrupted 
broad line, and is lost in the "ripple pattern" 
round the edge of the " window." An illustra- 
tion of this " ripple pattern " is shown on the 
plate opposite page 142. 

How a black and white image is masked 
when seen above the arc of the ' ' window ' ' has 
been explained and illustrated in the chapter on 
wading birds. 

In the case of the skua there is no necessity 
for a special arrangement of plumage to conceal 
it from the fish, as this gull lives by robbing 
others of the fish they have captured. The bird 

* See lower illustration on folding plate facing p. 3. 





Lesser Black-backed Gull seen above the Water. 




Swimming on the Surface. 




Diving after a Fish. 



The Lesser Black-backed Gull. 



GULLS 101 

is, therefore, coloured to conceal it on the rocks 
and shore, where it awaits the return of the 
fishing gull. 

I have watched the lesser black-back and 
common gull feed upon my observation ponds, 
and from the behaviour of the fish I am certain 
that it does not detect the presence of the 
surface-swimming gull until the bird is almost 
over it — that is, within the fish's " window." 

The lower photograph on the accompanying 
plate shows a lesser black-back plunging under 
the water after a fish. The gull was right over 
its prey before the little fish darted directly 
downwards. 

Though, speaking generally, I consider the 
black and white plumage of gulls as a scheme of 
aggressive concealment, the same arrangement 
of plumage undoubtedly protects them from 
enemies below the water. 

Reference has already been made to the fact 
that when an enemy approaches from below, its 
" window " narrows down so that a flock of gulls 
on the surface slip into the area of total reflec- 
tion, and only the bird for which the predatory 
beast or fish is making remains as a dark 
silhouette against the sky. 



102 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

During the observation of the fish-feeding 
habits of the gulls on my ponds I was very much 
struck by the rate at which they digest fish and 
the enormous quantities they will take. When 
an opportunity arose in 1912 of examining gull 
contents for an inquiry held by the Essex 
and Suffolk Fishery Board, I gladly accepted 
the invitation to examine these birds, in con- 
junction with the late Mr. Hudson, of 
Ipswich. 

In this examination I was greatly assisted 
by friends too numerous to mention, but I 
would particularly thank Professor Herdman, 
Dr. Walter Collinge, and Mr. Howard, of 
Colchester, for helping me to recognise gull 
contents with which I was not familiar. By kind 
permission of the Essex and Suffolk Fishery 
Board, I have dealt with the information 
obtained during 1913-14 in a general manner. 
The detailed account of this work, with all the 
records, were submitted to the Fishery Depart- 
ment of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 
early in the war. 

During recent years gulls have increased in 
such numbers that they are now present in their 
myriads round our shores, and the effect of sea- 



GULLS 103 

birds on fish life has become an important con- 
sideration. 

I have just read an article in Country Life 
of May 31st, 1919, entitled, "The Destruction 
of Sea-birds." The author .writes: "In 1915 
Dr. E. J. Allen stated, for many years past the 
total quantity and the total value of the fish 
landed in this country have both showed a steady 
and continuous increase. Ever since the year 
1890, when the industry of steam trawling was 
already in full swing, the total landings have 
doubled, both in quantity and quality." The 
article continues : " During this period of thirty 
years there has been an enormous increase in 
most of our common sea-birds, and particularly 
so during the last ten or fifteen years, and yet, 
in spite of this, the numbers and value of the 
fish landed have steadily increased. We are, 
therefore, forced to one conclusion, viz. that 
whether these birds feed upon fishes or not, they 
have not appreciably affected the supply." 

I have quoted this passage because, in one 
form or another, it typifies the argument which 
is always dished up by the biased bird protec- 
tionist. 

This increase in our fish supply is, as a matter 



104 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

of fact, due to the increasing numbers of large 
steam trawlers that go increasing distances to 
fetch fish, with an increased expenditure in fuel 
and labour, and proves nothing as to the effect 
of sea-birds upon the fisheries round our shores. 

That our fisheries have been depleted is 
beyond question. To maintain a fish supply 
within reasonable distances of our shores, the 
waters for at least five miles round our coasts 
ought to be a nursery for food fishes, so far as 
man can make it. Instead of this, not even 
reasonable measures are enforced to control the 
irregularities of trawlers, no encouragement is 
given to the destruction of predatory fish, and 
gulls are allowed to increase in such countless 
numbers that they not only destroy an enormous 
quantity of food fishes, but have a serious 
influence upon the destruction of fish food 
round our shores and in the estuaries of our 
rivers. 

When an endeavour is made to arrive at a 
decision upon the influence of gulls on fish life, 
the expression of opinion of the individual 
interested in fish must be ignored unless con- 
firmed by an examination of the contents of the 
gull. I would not suggest that fishermen are 



GULLS 105 

untruthful, but they are undoubtedly biased, 
and by acceptance of an unproved opinion 
a wrong estimate is formed of the fish-feeding 
habits of gulls. As an illustration, in 1913, 
in conjunction with a representative of a 
Fishery Board, I examined several gulls feeding 
in the sea off Bawdsey Ferry, near Felix- 
stowe, and found them all glutted with sprats. 
Three days later a bird was forwarded to me 
with the information that the herring gulls were 
still feeding on sprats. The specimen, when 
shot, was plunging with a flock of one hundred 
birds into the water, over a sandbank. In view 
of the fact that these gulls were apparently fish- 
ing in a spot where, three days previously, we 
had found them full of sprats, it was not alto- 
gether unreasonable to assume that they were 
still feeding on fish. On examination, however, 
it was found that the specimen sent contained 
nothing but brittle stars, twenty of which had 
been recently captured, and therefore were com- 
paratively whole. Broken portions of several 
others indicated that the complete " catch " was 
considerably larger. 

The brittle star is a starfish injurious to fish 
life, and if the other birds in the flock were feed- 



io6 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

ing in a similar manner they were doing most 
useful work. 

On another occasion, at the invitation of a 
representative of the Essex and Suffolk Fishery 
Board, I went to the River Aide, where the 
black-headed gulls were described as plunging 
below the water after fish. These birds certainly 
did disappear below the surface, but when 
examined they were found to be full of shrimps 
(Crangon vulgaris). 

Again, gulls have often been examined in 
the vicinity of fisheries, and it has been found 
that here they merely pick up the fish thrown 
overboard, and really act as scavengers. 

On the other hand, the fact that a gull does 
not contain any apparent traces of fish when 
examined is no indication that it has not 
devoured several during the day. Even a small 
bird, such as the black-headed gull, can digest 
a six-inch fish within four hours so completely 
as to leave no trace of it throughout the alimen- 
tary tract. Further, gulls are omnivorous and 
voracious feeders, and often exceptional feeding 
habits are quoted as evidence of the good or 
bad influence they have on fish life, agricul- 
ture, etc. 



GULLS 107 

Before I give the results of the examination 
of the contents of 650 sea-birds, I would like to 
add a few points which have come to my notice 
during this examination. 

In estimating the amount of fish destroyed 
by gulls it is necessary, as I have already 
suggested, to take into consideration the rate 
of digestion in these birds. I have carried out 
several experiments in this direction, and give 
the following as an example of the results 
obtained : 

For many years the refuse collected from a 
suburb of Ipswich was dumped on a farm 
adjacent to my house. During the winter 
months a flock of over two hundred black- 
headed gulls and a few common gulls stayed on 
the farm, and whenever the sanitary carts 
arrived these birds swooped down on the refuse 
and picked it over, after which they rested or 
scattered on the fields until the carts reappeared. 
On December 13th, 1913, I commenced to feed 
them each morning with two or three pounds 
of sprats. The fish were thrown down in a field 
adjacent to the refuse dump, and about sixty 
feet from a cowshed. In a day or two the gulls 
looked for this meal, and a few seconds after 



108 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

the sprats were thrown out not one was left. 
After feeding the birds in this manner for a 
week, I prepared a test meal of two hundred 
sprats. A small hole was made in each fish, and 
a few grains of methylene blue inserted — no 
sprats of less than five inches in length were 
used. 

At 8.10 a.m. on December 22nd these 
prepared sprats were thrown down and taken 
as usual. At 11 ;5 a.m. more sprats were thrown 
out, and as the gulls flocked round seven were 
shot by gunners concealed in the cowshed, and 
secured before they could disgorge. Six out of 
the seven had taken prepared fish, as proved by 
the fact that the contents of the birds were 
stained an intense blue. 

On the plate opposite is shown the material 
found in the first specimen. The first five rows 
represent 53 water snails ; the sixth and seventh 
rows, a piece of coal and 22 stones ; the eighth, 
ninth, and half the tenth row, greasy material, 
debris, and blades of vegetation. The last eight 
objects in the tenth row represent all that re- 
mained of a sprat taken three hours previously. 
These are mainly the remains of a few vertebrae, 
but the globular object fourth from the end calls 



U U M. U C < 4 I 

44444444 4 4 4 4 

4 U t M M 4 4 4 4 

4. 4. 4 4 4, 4 « 4' »- 



• ^ 



4 ^ ** * « 



V « 



% * 






<;<* * ■ * 



« * <t o \ 



Natural Size. 




Air Vesicle magnified 15 diameters. 

Stomach Contents of Black-headed Gul 



GULLS 109 

for special attention. It is shown, magnified 
fifteen times, on the lower half of the plate. 
This globular object, the size of a small millet 
seed, is a hard, bony vesicle which floats in 
water. The presence of this vesicle inside a 
gull is certain evidence that the bird has fed on 
a member of the herring family during the day 
— in this case a sprat. 

My attention was first drawn to these bony 
vesicles in the following manner : My procedure 
when I examine the contents of a gull is to 
remove the entire alimentary tract, then open 
the gullet and gizzard, and pick out the larger 
objects; the remainder of the tract is then cut 
open, and the whole washed out in a basin of 
water, filtered, and examined, if necessary, 
under the microscope. While I was examining 
the contents of kittiwakes which had been 
following up shoals of sprats off the East Coast, 
I found these hollow globules in large numbers. 
Next I boiled the skulls of sprats, and rubbed 
the softened bones between the finger and 
thumb, and obtained a pair of these globules 
with each skull. This is exactly what happens 
in the gizzard of the gull ; the bones are softened 
by the gastric juices, and in the gizzard the softer 



no ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

bones are triturated away, while the denser bone 
round an air space on each side of the skull 
remains. 

An air space on either side of the skull, 
surrounded by dense bone, suggested some 
arrangement in connection with the sense of 
hearing. I therefore sent some vesicles, with 
notes, to Professor Herdman, and received the 
following answer : " Dr. Johnstone has just dis- 
sected out the head of a sprat, and finds that 
the vesicles are the anterior end of an extension 
of the air bladder to the skull; they are what 
are known as ' the anterior air vesicles,' and 
were described by Duncan Matthews in the 
Scotch Fishery Board Report, Vol. V., in the 
'eighties." 

To the reader who is not conversant with fish 
anatomy, I would explain that in most bony 
fishes there is a swim bladder under the backbone, 
which is filled with gas. In the herring family 
a fine, tube-like prolongation extends from this 
bladder to the air space described. Vibrations 
in the water which reach the sides of the fish 
affect the swim bladder, and are conveyed by 
this extension to the air vesicles. As these air 
vesicles are in the region of the brain, the vibra- 




Stomach Contents of Black-headed Gull. 



GULLS in 

tions are appreciated as sound, and in order that 
the anterior air vesicles may make a better 
sounding-box, the bone around has become 
denser. 

It is this harder bone that resists the triturat- 
ing action in the gizzard of the gull long after 
the softer bones have disappeared. As stated, 
the presence of a bony globule floating on the 
surface when the contents of a gull are washed 
out is a sure sign that the bird has taken a 
member of the herring family during the day. 

To return to an examination of the contents 
of the six other black-headed gulls that had taken 
blued sprats. The second bird contained sixteen 
spicules of bone, the remains of almost digested 
vertebrae and two air vesicles. The third and 
fourth birds revealed fish in the gullet, as shown 
on the plate opposite page 110. The fish had 
been rendered soft and pulpy by the gastric 
juices, and fell to pieces in the fingers — each fish 
contained methylene blue. The explanation in 
the different rate of digestion is as follows : In 
the first two birds the gizzards were empty when 
they took the prepared sprats, and so the fish 
passed down to be triturated ; but the third and 
fourth birds had fed on the refuse heap before 



ii2 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

taking their fish meal, and their gizzards were, 
respectively, filled with tea leaves and greasy 
material; the fish, in consequence, could not 
enter the gizzard to be triturated. 

The fifth bird contained nine almost disap- 
pearing bodies of vertebrae, one whole and one 
broken air vesicle. 

In the sixth bird both gullet and gizzard were 
absolutely empty, but the gut was full of blue 
material. 

The last bird, as stated, had not taken a 
blued sprat. 

Other experiments which I have carried 
out have confirmed this rapid rate of diges- 
tion. 

With some of the large gulls, e.g. the great 
and lesser black-backed, evidence that the bird 
has taken a fish is removed even more rapidly, 
for towards the end of digestion these birds dis- 
gorge the bones remaining in the gizzard. Large 
colonies of lesser black-backed gulls nest on the 
island of Rona, and the ground is covered with 
collections of disgorged bones. 

In the wild state a lesser black-backed gull 
can digest a pound codling in four hours, so that 
when the remains of the triturated bones are 



GULLS 113 

thrown up, nothing is left to show that the bird 
has fed on fish. 

From what I have written it will be realised 
that the rate of digestion in gulls must be allowed 
for when one considers their influence on fish 
life. 

The presence of otoliths, or ear bones, in the 
gizzard of a gull is also a means of estimating 
the number of fish taken by this bird. In many 
bony fishes there is, on either side of the base 
of the cranial cavity, a sac which contains an 
otolith, or ivory-hard ear bone. The margins 
are indented and the surface is grooved. In 
these grooves are lodged the terminations of the 
nerves connected with hearing. 

Otoliths vary greatly in size and shape, but 
they are distinctive in various fish. In conse- 
quence of their hardness they resist the tritura- 
ting action in the gizzard of the gull, and remain 
long after the soft bones have disappeared. 
Speaking generally, an average-sized otolith is 
rendered quite smooth and very much diminished 
in size in twelve hours, and has disappeared in 
twenty-four. 

I will now give an example of the value of 

otoliths and the air vesicles described in estimat- 
1 



ii4 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

ing the real numbers of food fishes destroyed by 
gulls. 

In December, 1913, my brother and I stayed 
at Aldeburgh, and on one morning examined 
four birds in the bay. The first was a kittiwake ; 
in it there were nine recently taken sprats in 
the gullet, and the gizzard contained the bones 
shown in the first row on the plate opposite. 
These are portions of two whiting otoliths, seven 
bony globules, and the bodies of four vertebrae. 
The margins of the otoliths were still indented, 
so that we could be quite certain this kittiwake 
had taken a small whiting and four sprats 
earlier in the day in addition to those in the 
gullet. 

The second kittiwake examined was an 
immature bird, and had three sprats in the 
gullet, and among the debris in the gizzard were 
whiting otoliths and bones, as shown in the 
second row, indicating that the bird had taken 
these fish recently. 

The third and fourth birds, a kittiwake anc 
a common gull, when shot, hung their heads 
under the water and continued to swim, a sure 
sign that they were disgorging. The gullets oi 
both these birds were, in consequence, empty ; 




Otoliths and Air Vesicles as indication of Feeding. 




/ , 



, 



"< 



Stomach Contents of Herring Gull. 



GULLS 115 

but the gizzards contained the bones shown in 
the third and fourth rows, which read respec- 
tively : a whiting earlier in the day, and a 
whiting and sea urchin the day before; the 
second bird, two whiting and four sprats. That 
this last bird had recently taken fish which it 
had disgorged is proved by the two vertebrae, 
which show complete processes. 

To arrive at an estimate of the fish that the 
gulls were taking in Aldeburgh Bay on that 
morning, I have argued as follows : Two con- 
tained twelve fish, two disgorged; it is fair to 
presume these latter had taken an equal number 
of fish. From the otoliths and bony globules 
found, we can be certain that the four had taken 
twelve food fishes earlier in the day — that is, a 
total of thirty-six whiting and sprats by noon. 
The flock of gulls in Aldeburgh harbour follow- 
ing up the sprats was certainly not less than 
20,000 in number, which gives an estimate of 
180,000 food fishes taken by noon. Gulls were 
feeding in a similar manner all round the east 
coast at this time. 

How easy it is to miss a fish taken by a gull 
earlier, and subsequently followed by other food, 
is shown on the lower half of the same plate, 



n6 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

which is a photograph of the contents of a gull 
after a miscellaneous meal : three starfish (five 
inches across), three hermit and two shore crabs, 
one sea anemone, five whelks, earthworms, and, 
earlier in the day, a whiting, as shown by the 
two otoliths mounted on a piece of black paper. 
Everything is quite apparent in this illustration, 
but in the alimentary tract of the bird the whole 
is mixed up in a semi-digested odoriferous 
mass, in which small otoliths may easily be 
missed. 

From the foregoing remarks it will be appre- 
ciated that to estimate the amount of fish taken 
by sea-birds it is necessary that the observer 
should have considerable knowledge of fish life, 
and even then, unless a liberal allowance is made 
for the rapid digestion of gulls, the damage 
done to our fisheries will be very much under- 
estimated. 

In 1912 complaints were received by the 
Essex and Suffolk Fishery Board concerning the 
damage done by gulls to the fishing industry on 
the Suffolk coast. A committee of inquiry was 
formed, and during 1913-14 I examined the 
contents of 54 divers, 575 gulls and 22 nestlings. 
At first only birds obtained locally were 



GULLS 117 

examined, but, as the results differed consider- 
ably from what was expected, the examination 
was extended to twelve stations round Britain, 
in order to check the local findings. Gull con- 
tents were examined continuously from Janu- 
ary 1st, 1913, to June 16th, 1914. My brother 
(Colonel Ward) and I also spent ten days on 
the deserted island of Rona, in order to observe 
the feeding habits of gulls uninfluenced by the 
methods of man. 

In giving the result of this examination 
I will endeavour to group it so as to throw 
some light on the three following ques- 
tions : 

1. What influence have gulls upon the 
fisheries round our shores? 

2. What influence have gulls upon our in- 
land fisheries? 

3. Presuming it is acknowledged that gulls 
do a certain amount of damage to our fisheries, 
is this outbalanced by the benefit they confer 
on the agriculturist by the destruction of 
injurious insects? 

I have described the destruction in a single 
morning by flocks of kittiwakes and common 
gulls in Aldeburgh harbour, but this is obviously 



n8 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

a particular instance, and no indication of the 
feeding habits of gulls in general. 

During 1913 456 gulls .were examined 
throughout the year. The birds were collected 
where the majority are to be found — viz. along 
the seashore, ten miles up the estuaries of rivers, 
and two or three miles out to sea. 

Of gulls shot in these situations, the great 
black-backed, lesser black-backed, kitti wakes 
and terns were found to feed mainly upon fish, 
and evidence of food fishes were found in 60, 30, 
83.5, and 50 per cent, of these birds respectively 
at the time they were examined. 

From what I have written it will be realised 
that a considerably larger proportion had taken 
fish during the day. The contents of lesser 
black-backed gulls on Rona showed a very much 
higher percentage of fish. 

That these birds take enormous numbers of 
fish is not denied, neither is it contended that 
they benefit the agriculturist. This is, however, 
not the case with the herring, common, and 
black-headed gull ; 82, 92, and 167 of these birds 
respectively were examined during 1913-14 in 
the situations I have described, and opposite is a 
table of the contents found : 



GULLS 



119 





Herring 


Common 


Black- 




Gull. 


Gull. 


headed Gull. 




Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


FISH 








Of all varieties present in 


18.2 


24.5 


28 


Useful as human food 


10.4 


17.5 


13.5 


Useless as human food . 


7.8 


7.0 


14.5 


MARINE FOOD OTHER 








THAN FISH present in 








the following percentages : 








Shrimps (Pandalus annulicor- 








nis and Crangon vulgaris) 


5.2 


14.6 


27.0 


Lugworms (Arenicola marina) 


— 


2.4 


7.6 


Ragworms (various polych&ta) 


— 


3.7 


6.7 


Molluscs .... 


7.8 


3.7 


4.8 


Small Crustacea . 


2.6 


2.4 


8.5 


Crabs (various shore crabs) . 


16.9 


7.3 


7.7 


Echinoderms — 








Starfish, brittle stars, 








sea urchins 


18.2 


— 


— 


Whelk-spawn (Buccinum 








undatum) 


10.4 




— 



It will be seen that food fishes were not 
present in so large a percentage of these birds, 
and even if one-half were missed — due to the 
rapid rate of digestion — it is evident that not one 
in four of the gulls had taken a food fish during 
the day. Human food, such as edible molluscs 
and shrimps were present in a fair percentage, 
but the destruction of fish food was very con- 
siderable. To illustrate the influence of gulls on 
fish food, I give one example. 



120 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

Near Ipswich, on October 10th, 1913, nine 
gulls were shot whilst feeding in a small creek 
on the River Orwell opposite Pin Mill. They 
were all found to contain fish and crustaceans — 
i.e. shrimps (Crangon vulgaris). 

With every low tide the gulls feed in the 
shallow water of the creeks on the Orwell. On 
one occasion a flock of approximately 160 gulls 
in one situation, and another flock of over 200 
a little below them, were feeding and fighting 
for food. Nine black-headed gulls were obtained 
at one shot from a punt gun. One had evidently 
just joined the flock, and only contained blennies 
and earthworms. Two others were not shot 
dead and disgorged large quantities of shrimps, 
but the six gulls shot dead contained 297 shrimps 
in all — an approximate average of fifty shrimps; 
for each bird. These two flocks, therefore, 
probably contained over 17,000 shrimps, and the 
water was still one hour before low tide. One 
gull which contained 75 shrimps was nearly full 
up, and 15 more would probably have completed 
the meal, and the gull would have flown ashore 
to digest. We may thus fairly allow 90 shrimps 
as the average number a gull would hold, and 
on this estimate these two flocks would probably 



GULLS 121 

devour over 30,000 shrimps on that tide. As 
there were over 2,000 gulls feeding in the Orwell 
at this time, it may reasonably be assumed that 
100,000 shrimps were accounted for. 

The Orwell used to teem with fish; it now 
teems with gulls after fish food in the tidal water. 

The fishing round our shores and in the estu- 
aries of our rivers has certainly deteriorated, and 
after the facts I have given it appears to me 
reasonable to think that gulls are to some extent 
responsible for this deterioration. 

The next question is, what is the influence of 
gulls upon our inland fisheries? 

I have by me at the present time a book full 
of correspondence, press cuttings and reports 
concerning the fishing habits of gulls on inland 
waters. The fisherman seems to have no doubt 
whatever in his mind as to the depredations of 
the common and black-headed gull, and I had 
found trout in black-headed gulls before I 
examined birds during the investigation I have 
mentioned. I have no data of these bygone 
days, but during 1913-14 I examined the con- 
tents of thirty-nine black-headed gulls shot in 
the vicinity of a stream near the Sol way Fishery, 
Dumfries, and near the Rothesay Fishery, 



122 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

Bute : trout (salmo fario) were found in 64 per 
cent, of the birds, one specimen contained nine 
trout, from 2^ to 4 inches in length, and several 
fish of 6 inches were taken. 

Of eighteen common gulls shot in the same 
vicinity 44.6 per cent, contained trout from 
5 to 7 inches in length. 

In the Summer Number of Country Life, 
June 7th, 1919, there is an article "A New 
Colony of Black-headed Gulls." The photo- 
graphs which accompany this article are beautiful 
pictures by Arthur Brook. If Mr. Brook is also 
the author of the text he has exactly hit off the 
habits of the bird about which there has been so 
many complaints. These are the words of this 
ardent bird observer : " When the black-headed 
gull leaves the pond" (breeding grounds) "it 
does not at all follow that it wings its way back 
to its seaside haunts. On the contrary, it takes 
very readily to the moorland, where the stream 
provides as much food as the sea itself." Mr. 
Brook then describes how gulls fish upstream 
so as to avoid being detected by the wary fish. 
" The gull, on a beat of a mile or so, comes up 
as warily and vigilantly as a good angler, and 
when he reaches the end of his beat departs over 






GULLS 



123 



the shoulder of a hill so as to be out of view, and 
resumes his quest at the point at which he origin- 
ally started." 

The angler fishes occasionally, the gull per- 
sists daily in these manoeuvres from dawn to 
dusk until the trout have been cleared out of the 
stream. 

What is the good achieved by gulls to 
counter-balance the damage they do to fish? 

The larger and mainly fish-feeding gulls, as 
already described, do not enter into this con- 
sideration, for they feed very little upon the 
land. The herring, common and black-headed 
gulls, however, take a considerable amount of 
land food, and below is a table on the land feed- 
ing habits of 82 herring, 92 common, and 167 
black-headed gulls compiled at the same time as 
the table on page 119. 





Herring 


Common 


Black- 




Gull. 


Gull. 


headed Gull. 


LAND FOOD 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Earthworms were present in 


6.5 


18.5 


18.3 


Wireworms „ „ „ 


.0 


.0 


3.8 


Beetles . „ „ „ 


1.3 


1.2 


9.6 


Craneflies . „ ,, „ 


1.3 


11.0 


5.7 


Other Insects ,, „ „ 


1.3 


8.5 


3.8 


Cereals . „ „ „ 


19.5 


11.0 


2.9 


Garbage . was „ „ 


11.7 


13.4 


3.8 



124 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

To commence .with the herring gull; earth- 
worms were present in 6.5 per cent, of the birds. 
No wireworms were found in all the 86 birds 
examined, only 4 per cent, had taken any insects 
at all. On the other hand, cereals were present 
in 19.5 per cent. — that is to say, of 86 herring 
gulls shot round our shores throughout the year 
every fifth bird contained grain. 

When a herring gull feeds on grain he does 
not take it as does the sparrow, but in large 
quantities. On the plate opposite are the con- 
tents of a single herring gull shot on September 
11th, 1913, at sea near Padstow. This bird had 
taken 140 grains of oats, and 460 grains of 
wheat. 

In September and October, 1913, herring 
gulls were known to be taking grain near Pad- 
stow, and in the table below is given the contents 
of eight birds shot at sea about a mile from land. 

Sept. 11th At sea near Padstow 40 grains wheat, 

otoliths and fish 
bones. 
» Hth „ „ „ 140 grains oats, 

460 grains wheat. 
„ 30th On the shore near Dumfries 30 grains oats. 
Oct. 10th At sea near Padstow 250 grains oats, 

larvae craneflies 
and earthworms. 







O 
^1- 



(0 

o 

CO 

C 
- 

O 



3 

o 

c 






c 

c 
o 

u 



o 

£ 

o 
— 

CO 



GULLS 125 

Oct. 21st At sea near Padstow 24 grains growing 

wheat with root 
and blades. 

a 21st „ „ „ 2(Tgrains growing 

wheat with roots 
and blades. 

» 21st „ „ „ 4 grains growing 

wheat with roots 
and blades. 

„ 21st „ „ „ 2 to 3 grains grow- 

ing wheat with 
roots and blades. 



The result was so extraordinary that in 
December of the same year six herring gulls 
were shot on wheat fields in the same area. One 
bird was empty, the other five all contained roots 
and blades of young growing wheat. In one 
specimen the bird was full from beak to crop 
and must have contained many hundreds of 
shoots. 

This material was sent to Dr. Walter E. 
Collinge for confirmation, and his report is as 
follows : "I have carefully examined the con- 
tents of the bottle and find a little grass, part of 
the body of a slug (Agriolimax agrestis, L.), a 
little grit, but the bulk of the material is the 
remains of wheat." 

Mr. Stavely, of Rothesay, describes the 
herring gull as sitting on the sheaves and feed- 



126 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

ing on oats ; a specimen shot contained evidence 
to prove this. 

The herring gull would therefore appear to 
take cereals at all seasons. 

This sea-bird certainly cannot be considered 
to be the farmer's friend, and his land feeding 
habits do not help to atone for the destruction 
of fish caused by gulls in general. 

An examination of 92 common gulls showed 
that 18.5 per cent, had taken earthworms, 
but again not a single bird contained a wire- 
worm; 20.7 per cent, had taken insects, one- 
third of which may be considered beneficial 
to the farmer; 11 per cent, had taken 
cereals. 

Though the great majority of common gulls 
are to be found round the shore and on 
estuarine waters, at certain seasons considerable 
numbers fly farther inland to feed. Here, 
though they do some benefit by the destruction 
of injurious insects, this would appear to be 
outweighed by the damage done to cereals. 
Thirty common gulls were examined between 
December 4th, 1913, and March 4th, 1914. All 
these birds were shot while following the plough 
in the vicinity of winter wheat, or recently sown 



GULLS 127 

land. The specimens were collected in Cornwall, 
Suffolk, Linlithgowshire and Bute. 

The total contents of the thirty birds were 
as follows : 

638 recognisable earthworms, besides a mass 
of worm pulp. 

14 Wire worms. 

3 Flies — Diptera. 

2 Chrysalid goat moth. 

2 Larvae cockchafer. 

1 Earwig. 

1 Grasshopper. 

1 Hen's egg. 

Recognisable food fishes were present in 
eight birds. 

Garbage in three birds. 

Forty per cent, contained cereals, consisting 
of seed, germinating seed, young plants and 
rootlets of wheat and oats. 

From this it will be seen that the land-feed- 
ing habits of the common gull can hardly be 
considered so beneficial to the farmer as to out- 
weigh even the damage that this bird does to 
fisheries on inland waters. 

The black-headed gull has been considered to 
be the farmer's friend, but the good he does by 



128 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

no means compensates for the injury done by 
this gull to fish life. 

Of the 167 black-headed gulls shot at sea, 
along the shore and in the estuaries of rivers, 
it will be seen that 18.3 per cent, contained 
earthworms, 3.8 per cent, wire worms, and 
under 20 per cent, insects of any sort, of which 
again a third may be considered beneficial. In 
the matter of cereals, grain was only found in 
2.9 per cent, of all the birds examined. 

But it may fairly be argued that the benefit 
conferred on agriculture by the black-headed gull 
can only be judged when the birds feed inland. 

Under exceptional circumstances, and at 
special seasons, these birds unquestionably do 
destroy large numbers of injurious insects, and 
on the plate opposite are shown the contents of 
two black-headed gulls which leave no doubt as 
to the usefulness of the flock with which these 
birds were feeding. But, on the other hand, in 
1906-7 at the request of the Cumberland County 
Council, Mr. D. Lush Thorpe, M.B.O.U., and 
Mr. Linnaeus Hope, examined 100 black-headed 
gulls. Of 25 birds examined in April 45 per 
cent, contained cereals (oats) with as many as 
100 grains in a bird. 





Crane Flies. 




Gkost Moths. 

Stomach Contents of Black-headed Gull. 



GULLS 129 

The black-headed gull is supposed to do an 
immense amount of good when following the 
plough by destroying wireworms and other; 
injurious insects. 

Of thirty specimens shot following the plough 
between December 4th, 1913, and March 4th, 
1914, the total contents were as follows : 

747 Recognisable earthworms. 

5 Beetles. 

1 Earwig. 

No wireworms. 

Food fishes were present in two birds. 

Eight per cent, contained cereals. 

These birds certainly were not helping the 
farmer, and in heavy land where the worms are 
useful for improving drainage they would be 
doing harm. 

Nobody who has any experience of inland 
streams and lakes will deny that the black- 
headed gull damages the fishing, and in dry 
seasons when the water is low that this damage 
is serious. It appears to me that even when 
feeding on the land, the good that this bird does 
by the destruction of injurious insects is out- 
weighed by his bad habits, and he certainly does 
not atone for the sins of the gull tribe. 
J 



CHAPTER VI 

THE KINGFISHER 

IN some of the older writings on natural 
history the kingfisher is described as a bird 
that builds a nest, consisting of fishbones, in the 
hole of a water-rat, which is enlarged and altered 
to the liking of the bird. Some more modern 
writers state that the kingfisher uses the nesting- 
hole of a sand-martin. 

I have seen a great many burrows, at the 
end of which kingfishers have reared their young, 
but I have never in a single instance met a case 
in which the bird had used the hole of a water- 
rat or the disused excavation of a sand-martin ! 

Kingfishers pair in April, and are frequently 
known to return to a hole in which they have 
nested before. On the Chantry Pond, near 
Ipswich, a pair successfully reared three con- 
secutive broods in the same hole. 

When a new burrow is to be made, the bird 

often begins at a point where a stone has fallen 

130 



THE KINGFISHER 131 

out of a sandbank or where there is some other 
irregularity on which it can get a foothold and 
a starting-off place for its digging operations. 
Failing this, the bird will make this first foot- 
hold for itself in the following manner : From a 
distance of about six feet the bird flies, from the 
ground or from an adjacent branch, straight at 
the sandbank, driving its bill well into the sand ; 
it then drops, and the bill, acting as a lever, 
forces out an appreciable quantity of sand. The 
process is repeated several times, the bill being 
driven into the right spot with absolute precision. 
Ultimately a good foothold is obtained. The 
bird now commences to dig with the beak, while 
the feet are used to throw out the sand behind 
it. Examination of a burrow will generally 
reveal beak-marks all along the roof and sides, 
right to the end of the burrow. As soon as the 
excavation is large enough, both birds work in 
the nesting-hole at the same time. 

The hole itself is about two inches inj 
diameter, and is usually made a foot or so from 
the top of the bank. It extends for about two 
feet into the bank, but when the sand is 
soft a burrow may be nearly three feet in 
length. 



132 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

The eggs are usually laid at the end of the 
completed burrow within thirty days. Should 
the first nest be destroyed, the birds will work 
much faster at a second, and complete it in far 
less time, and all is ready for the commencement 
of incubation, within seventeen to twenty-one 
days. 

Naturalists appear to differ in their opinions 
as to whether a kingfisher deliberately uses fish 
bones to form a nest or whether the presence of 
fish bones at the end of a burrow is purely 
accidental, and that they are merely from the 
pellets thrown up by the nesting bird. 

Personally, I think the latter is the more 
probable explanation of their presence. Mr. 
Ridley, a Lancashire naturalist, has, however, 
described how, on one occasion, pellets were left 
along the ridges on a sandbank where kingfishers 
were digging. After a time these pellets dis- 
appeared/ and when he examined the nest he 
found two eggs, with large quantities of fish- 
bone pellets — far more than it was possible for 
the birds to have thrown up during the short 
time that they had occupied the nest. Mr. 
Ridley was of the opinion that these birds, 
before laying their eggs, had carried the pellets 




A Fish. 




The Dive. 

The Kingfisher, 



THE KINGFISHER 133 

deposited round the hole into the end of the 
burrow. 

The number of eggs laid is almost invari- 
ably seven ; more are quite exceptional, but it is 
possible that there may be only six. 

It is usual to think of the kingfisher as a 
fish-feeding bird, which is invariably found by 
the waterside. The kingfisher family, however, 
which consists of over one hundred and fifty 
species, is divided into water-kingfishers and 
wood-kingfishers. The former are found by 
shady brooks, and mainly live on small fish, 
though, in addition, they take a certain number 
of insects and crustaceans. Wood-kingfishers 
dwell in forest regions, not necessarily by water. 
Their food consists of insects, reptiles, crusta- 
ceans, with, occasionally, small fish. 

Of all kingfishers there is none more beautiful 
than the brilliant little blue bird so familiar in 
every secluded brook and stream at home. This 
kingfisher (Alcedo Ispida) has a wide distribu- 
tion throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. 
During the spring and summer a few pairs 
may be found nesting on every stream, but 
in some parts they are quite numerous. I 
have, for instance, found fifteen nests within 



134 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

ten miles on the banks of the Lancashire 
Hodder. 

In October there is a partial migration, and 
it is at these times that the kingfisher feeds on 
crustaceans along the seashore. 

In the autumn of 1917 I saw large numbers 
of these birds at the mouth of the Wadi Guzzee, 
before Gaza. They were perched upon rocks 
along the shore, and every now and then one 
would leave the rock, hover like a hawk over the 
breaking surf, and then dive, to come up with 
food in its bill. 

Shallow water, swarming with small fish, 
flowed through the last three miles of the Wadi, 
and here kingfishers perched on the military 
telephone wires over the water. A wire is a 
most unsuitable perch for a kingfisher, and each 
time a bird dived from the telephone wire it 
appeared to lose its balance and failed to catch 
its fish. 

The kingfisher catches its fish in several 
ways. It may dive, with closed wings, straight 
down off a branch on to a fish immediately 
below; it may fly at an angle, and close its 
wings just before it enters the water, like a 
gannet. When the water is very shallow, or 




Got H 




Gone. 

The Kingfisher. 



THE KINGFISHER 135 

the fish near the surface, the bird uses its wings 
all the time, and swoops down on its prey like 
a surface-feeding gull. In these circumstances 
the flight is continued for the short time that 
the bird is under the water. Again, the king- 
fisher often leaves its perch and hovers over the 
water like a kestrel. The tail is depressed, and 
the head is bent forward so that the beak rests 
on the breast. Suddenly the bird tips up and 
drops like a stone on its prey. This appears to 
be the most successful method of fishing. 

As soon as the kingfisher, sitting on a 
branch, sees a fish below, it immediately 
becomes alert, all its feathers are tightened, and 
it anxiously watches the approach of its prey. 
This attitude is illustrated in the photograph 
opposite page 132. The second illustration on 
this plate shows the flight of the bird into 
shallow water. 

This photograph was taken at the exposure 
of one-thousandth part of a second, and the 
expanded wing of the kingfisher is visible in the 
centre of the splash. 

The next two illustrations show the same 
bird back on the bough with a three-inch 
rainbow trout, seized by the head. The fish was 



136 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

then banged on the branch, turned, and swal- 
lowed head first. 

Before a kingfisher attempts to turn or 
swallow food it invariably knocks it upon its 
perch. It is very unlikely that the bird objects 
to swallowing the food alive, and the probable 
reason why the fish is first knocked on the perch 
is to prevent it escaping while it is being turned 
and swallowed. Young kingfishers, by instinct, 
bang all their food in this way. 

On one occasion I reared a nest full of young 
birds, which lived for several weeks in a special 
cage fitted with a diving tank. Fish food was 
not always available, and occasionally they were 
fed on small pieces of raw meat. In one case 
the young bird pierced the meat with its upper 
bill, and was, in consequence, unable to swallow 
it. Each failure to get the piece of meat down 
was followed by a series of bangs. After I 
started to count, the fledgling hit that piece of 
meat one hundred and forty times before it 
broke away from the beak. 

I next tried a lump of cold porridge. Two 
bangs, and the porridge was gone! The bird 
evidently thought that the porridge had escaped, 
and was determined to kill the next piece with 




Kingfisher : Repose after a Meal. 



THE KINGFISHER 137 

a really good bang, with the result that this time 
it all disappeared with the first knock. 

However plentiful food may be in the vicinity 
of a nest, the parent kingfisher always flies to 
some distance to fish. Here it usually selects a 
bough overhanging a shady pool, and time after 
time returns to exactly the same position on that 
bough. This perch is usually at a height of from 
six to ten feet above the water. From this 
position the bird can spot small fish at a con- 
siderable depth. 

On trout waters, where minnows are plenti- 
ful, the kingfisher does little harm, for minnows 
are easier to catch than trout fry. On fish 
hatcheries, however, this bird, like the dabchick, 
can do an immense amount of damage in a very 
short time. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE ANGLER AND HIS LURES 

SIR HENRY CUNYNGHAME, in the 
Fishing Gazette of April 27th, 1912, was 
the first to describe the appearance of the float- 
ing fly, as seen from under the water. In The 
Field of May 3rd, 1912, I illustrated several 
experiments with trout and salmon flies. These 
experiments were carried out in a controlled 
stream, and the observations were made from a 
chamber built into one bank. 

A year later, also in The Field, I illustrated 
the appearance of the angler seen from under the 
water. This article was followed by a consider- 
able amount of correspondence, which dealt 
mainly with the optical explanation of the 
appearances described. I would refer those 
interested in this subject to the Spring Number 
of The Field— 1913. 

In the present chapter I will deal merely with 

the fisherman and his methods, as seen from 

i 3 8 



THE ANGLER AND HIS LURES 139 

below the water. If an observer under the 
water were to look forwards and slightly up- 
wards, he would see, on the surface, the arc of 
his "window" and an area of total reflection 
beyond. 

When a fly is thrown over him from behind, 
he sees : a break in the area of total reflection 
and a flicker of light as the fly strikes the water. 
When the fly has settled, only the body, hackle, 
and hook are visible, with a reflection of the same 
from the surface. The gut from this point to 
the edge of the " window " is difficult to detect. 
The wings are visible above the arc of the 
" window," in the same way as the sail of the 
boat is seen in the lower illustration on the plate 
opposite page 3. Across the " window" itself 
the gut, whatever colour, shows up as a clearly 
defined dark line. 

As the fly floats down towards the observer, 
the image of the wings becomes larger and more 
distinct. The body of the fly next passes 
through the ring of rainbow colours round the 
circular "window" and blends with the image 
of the wings. The fly is now seen as a whole, 
within the "window," as a dull silhouette 
against the sky. In this position the general 



140 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

form of the fly can be appreciated; there is a 
suggestion of colour about the wings, and a slight 
iridescence round the hackle. Along the side 
of the body there is frequently a streak of light, 
particularly if paraffin has been used. 

The foregoing is a description of what is seen 
by the human eye. A fish as compared with 
man is short-sighted, and its behaviour, as 
observed from under the water, suggests that it 
does not appreciate the fly until it is seen as 
a whole within its "window." Here the fly 
appears as a blurred object, and the fish goes 
up to have a look at it. If on nearer inspection 
the fly gives satisfaction, it is taken. 

This inspection opens up another considera- 
tion, viz. though the angler may not be visible 
to the fish when the fly first comes into its 
" window," he becomes so with the altered posi- 
tion of the fish. 

Opposite are two illustrations representing 
the surface of the water as seen from below. 
Hold the plate in a horizontal position above the 
level of the head, as before. In the lower photo- 
graph the blurred image of the fly has just come 
into the " window." Beyond, the stones on the 
bottom of the stream are reflected from the sur- 





Dry Fly as seen by a Trout. 



THE ANGLER AND HIS LURES 141 

face. This is what the fish sees as he swims in 
a horizontal position. 

Scores of times has the dry fly-fisher seen the 
trout come up to his fly, refuse, and sink back to 
the spot from which he came. The fish may do 
this once or twice, and subsequently ignore the 
artificial fly as it passes over him, but he may 
still continue to rise to the natural fly. The 
trout is not frightened by the artificial fly, he 
simply recognises that it is not what he wants 
and so ignores it. On another occasion a fish 
may come up to a fly thrown in the same manner. 
This he does not refuse, as described above, 
but suddenly turns off and disappears. I think 
the explanation is that, on this occasion, the 
angler has come into the fish's "window" in 
consequence of the altered position of the fish 
in the water. The top photograph on the plate 
opposite page 140 illustrates this point. The 
moral for the fisherman is to keep well down, 
even when below the fish, unless concealed 
against a suitable background. 

The under-water appearance described up to 
this point only applies when the surface of the 
water is still or moving gently with an unbroken 
surface* 



142 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

A ripple caused by a breeze will help to con- 
ceal the angler to a very considerable degree. 
When the surface of the water is disturbed, dark, 
dancing ripple lines encroach upon the " win- 
dow " all round and diminish its size. These 
lines are seen in the first illustration on the 
plate opposite. 

In the centre illustration on the same plate 
an angler is shown by the side of an observation 
pond, with the wind rippling the surface of the 
water. 

The third photograph illustrates how the 
image of this angler was masked by the ripple 
lines. This photograph was taken from a point 
two feet under the water at a distance of 
twenty-five feet. The white cross marks the 
position of the image of the angler. When the 
breeze dropped, the arc receded, and the angler 
stood up clearly above the observer . 

Broken water has the same effect, and in 
rough water the image above the ' ' window ' ! 
disappears altogether. On the next plate are 
three illustrations — all of a fisherman in the same 
position, viz. seven feet distant from the observer 
under the water. The first photograph was taken 
in running water with the surface broken. In 



- 



to Q 



CC <L> 
en 



THE ANGLER AND HIS LURES 143 

the second illustration the surface was definitely 
broken, and the figure is still discernible though 
it more resembles a bush than a man. In the 
last, where the water was flowing as a rapid 
broken stream, the figure of the angler is quite 
lost. 

In each of these illustrations the fisherman 
was facing the observer at a distance of seven feet 
only. It is plainly seen, then, that when an 
angler is fishing upstream in rough water it is 
quite easy for him to get right over his fish 
without being detected. 

Before I leave the consideration of the angler 
as seen from under the water, I will refer to the 
question of clothing. 

All that I have written about the wading 
bird applies equally to the angler. If the cloth- 
ing blends with the bushes, trees or buildings 
beyond, his image above the arc of the "win- 
dow " is not easily detected, provided this 
image does not appear above the images of the 
scenery beyond. Bold " camouflage " patterns 
of clothing would be quite useful if an angler 
frequently fished in front of the same type of 
background. To illustrate how extremes of 
clothing can be successfully used I have illus- 



144 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

trated the appearance of a man in a white 
coat. 

In the top illustration on the plate opposite 
the fisherman was clad in a dark green Harris 
tweed suit. The sky was dull with white 
clouds. 

The lower photograph shows the same angler 
with a white dust coat over his suit. Though his 
body is concealed the face and cap are still quite 
prominent. 

A white cap and coat would be a rational 
fishing costume on the bank of a canal or in a 
boat on a loch. In the latter situation, however, 
I am afraid there might be trouble in convincing 
the gillie that the wearer was not qualifying for 
an asylum. 

I will now describe the appearance of various 
lures as used with a rod. These are best con- 
sidered under two headings : the lures which 
attempt to imitate the natural fly, whether fished 
dry or wet, and those which mainly depend upon 
" flash" for their attractiveness. The latter 
include captive live bait, spoons, spinners, the 
salmon fly, and wet trout flies, dressed with 
tinsel. 

Most trout flies are tied with the intention of 





1. Dressed in a Green Tweed Suit. 

2. Wearing a White Dust Coat. 

The Angler as seen from below the Water. 



THE ANGLER AND HIS LURES 145 

imitating some particular insect. I have already 
described the appearance of the dry fly. Under 
the water wet flies are seen in two ways. When 
the fly is well sunk it is seen against the rocks or 
vegetation on the bottom, or, at any rate, 
against the reflecting surface of the water. 
When fished near the top, it is seen with the 
bright light of the " window " as a background. 
In the former position its killing powers depend 
upon its form, colour and movement, whereas 
in the latter position the colour cannot be 
appreciated. 

I will now describe the under-water appear- 
ance of lures that mainly depend upon " flash " 
to make them attractive. Most pike water 
swarm with roach and rudd. The live bait of 
the pike angler is only one among many thou- 
sands of fish in the water, and yet the pike is 
attracted to the captive bait. "Flash" is the 
explanation. The free fish in the water are 
swimming about on a level keel, and are 
rendered inconspicuous by reflecting their sur- 
roundings; in consequence, they do not arrest 
the attention of the pike. The captive bait, on 
the other hand, is constantly flashing in the 
water as it twists and turns in its endeavours 

K 



146 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

to escape. The pike is attracted, and seizes the 
roach on the snap tackle. 

The spoon bait depends entirely upon 
"flash" to attract fish. Most spoons, as sup- 
plied by tackle makers, are made with far too 
extensive a flashing surface. Such spoons 
certainly attract the predatory pike or trout, but 
when the fish comes up to inspect, he follows 
for a time, and then falls back. The flash is 
unnatural and too bright. 

I have used a spoon made in the following 
manner, so as to imitate as far as possible the 
appearance of a damaged or sick fish. The 
whole spoon is painted dark green except for a 
narrow strip of clear metal which runs diagon- 
ally across the convex side. This strip starts 
from a point at either end, and is not more than 
a quarter of an inch wide in the centre. The 
swivel ring is attached so that the spoon spins 
with a wobble. Seen from under the water, 
this spoon gives a quick flash, then a definite 
interval, followed by another quick flash. In 
1912-13 I used the pattern described with con- 
siderable success. 

My observations of the salmon fly, as it 
appears when presented to a fish, left me con- 



THE ANGLER AND HIS LURES 147 

vinced upon one point — viz. that the attraction 
of the salmon fly lies in the "flash." No one 
can realise the amount of "flash" from 
standard patterns until they have seen a ' ; Jock 
Scott," a "Gordon," or a "Doctor" fished 
past them under the water. Colour is, I am 
sure, an unimportant factor in rendering the 
salmon fly attractive. 

As an experiment, I should like to see the 
following tried : use a salmon fly of a standard 
shape tied in six sizes, and each size in three 
patterns, the same material to be used in each 
pattern, but varied solely from the point of 
more or less light-reflecting power. My brother 
and I tried this system with wet trout flies, but, 
unfortunately, the war cut our experiments 
short. 

With our present patterns of flies, chang- 
ing from one kind to another of exactly the same 
size will often result in killing fish; but these 
changes, when successful, are almost invariably 
from a quieter to a more gaudy pattern, or the 
reverse. A glance at a box of salmon flies will 
show what a change to a more gaudy pattern 
means — more tinsel on the body, often white 
eyes on a woodcock wing, and topping tag and 



148 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

hackle made of good reflecting material, all of 
.which points to the fact that it is the increased or 
diminished amount of " flash" which gives 
success. 

The fact that many salmon rivers have their 
more favoured flies has been advanced in support 
of the value of colour in different patterns. I go 
further and say, every pool that has distinctive 
features — e.g. overhanging rocks or trees, or 
with flat, low-lying banks — has its more favoured 
pattern. This is not, however, dependent on 
its colour, but upon its light-reflecting power. 
The "flash" must be sufficient to attract the 
fish without causing it to refuse or come short 
when it follows up the fly. 

The value of the feathers as feathers lies in 
their movement, which suggests that the fly is 
alive. 

In almost every pool there is a particular 
spot where the salmon lie. Not infrequently 
that spot fishes best from, say, the right bank 
in the morning and the left bank in the evening. 
We can find an explanation for this in the 
" flash " of the fly and whether this " flash " is 
correctly timed as it passes the fish. 

My point will be readily followed by an 




V 



CO 








o 





THE ANGLER AND HIS LURES 149 

inspection of the flies shown on the accompany- 
ing plate. Here we have four views of a 
" Gordon" as it passed in front of a fish. The 
fly has been thrown across the pool into the 
main light, and as it swings down with the 
light behind it, it is quite dull; but as the 
fly comes round, in front of the salmon, the 
light catches it, and there is a glint from body 
and hackle. The attention of the fish is arrested, 
and, as the fly swings still farther round, it 
flashes, as shown in the photographs on the 
left; the salmon follows up the flashing fly and 
seizes the hook. 

Fished from the other bank, the fly would 
be flashing as it came up to the salmon; as it 
passed the fish it would become dull and disap- 
pear, and there would be no inducement to the 
fish to follow it up. 

In these photographs I would draw attention 
to the fact that the eye on the woodcock wing 
flashes quite as brilliantly as the silver twist on 
the body. 

Many wet trout flies are dressed with the 
intention of imitating a special natural fly. It 
is surprising to what extent many of these 
artificial flies flash. On the lower half of the 



150 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

same plate there are three photographs of a 
" May fly." In the first illustration it is seen 
floating on the surface in the area of the 
6 ' window ' ' ; the second shows it under the 
water ; and the third illustrates a ' s flash ' ' from 
the wing of the same fly. 

" Flash " no doubt plays an important part 
in making many unconventional wet flies attrac- 
tive. Many a time when the trout are off their 
feed an odd fish has been picked up on a 
"Butcher" fished deep. The trout has been 
unable to resist the flash of the silver body. 






CHAPTER VIII 

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 

WITH the approach of autumn brown trout 
become restless, and the adult fish gradu- 
ally make their way up tributaries or to the head 
waters of the river. Here, where the shallow 
stream ripples over the gravel beds, they deposit 
their ova. As soon as the spawning is com- 
pleted the exhausted female drops down into the 
deeper water from which she came. The male, 
not infrequently, delays his return for a time, 
but ultimately reaches his usual haunts. 

When they move up to spawn, a male trout 
may accompany the female fish on the journey 
until they reach suitable ground. On the other 
hand, he may not select his mate until the actual 
spawning grounds are reached. Here he is most 
attentive to her, jealously guards her against 
the attentions of other fish, and finally induces 
her to spawn. 

Unless the male is an exceptionally large fish 

151 



152 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

he has to fight many a battle to retain possession 
of the trout of his selection. She, on her part, 
is indifferent, and should her lord be defeated, 
immediately accommodates herself to his suc- 
cessor. A stroll along the upper waters of a trout 
stream during the months of October or 
November will certainly give the observer an 
opportunity to witness a combat between two 
males. As a rule, the battle is not one decisive 
fight, but a series of skirmishes which continue 
throughout the day. On one occasion I was 
walking up a small stream when I heard violent 
splashing in the pool above; the sound was so 
loud that I thought a vigorous water-fowl was 
having a bath. But as I crept round the corner 
I came upon a trout fight. The fish were well 
matched, and it was one of the most determined 
struggles that I have ever witnessed. When 
first I saw them both fish were locked together 
and the surface of the water was covered with 
froth; after a time the exhausted combatants 
broke away, but it was not long before the 
aggressor had sufficiently recovered to renew the 
attack. This battle, with intervals of a few. 
minutes, lasted for over an hour. 

At one time a female and two male fish were 




Male and Female Trout on the Spawning Ground. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 153 

the sole survivors of six large rainbow trout 
turned into my observation pond. All went 
well until the spawning season came round. One 
of the males now attached himself to the female 
fish and drove off the other occupant of the pond 
whenever he came near. Every now and then 
the other male rainbow, refused to go, and then 
a battle ensued. For three weeks these fish 
fought at intervals, but the trout that had first 
taken possession of the female was able to hold 
his own and retain his mate. 

I have illustrated the last of these fights on 
the plate opposite page 154. 

On this occasion I went down to the pond 
early one morning, to find the surface disturbed 
and covered with froth. From the observation 
chamber I watched the fish chase each other 
round and round in a gradually diminishing 
circle. This is shown in the top photograph. 
As I watched, the pursued fish suddenly turned 
and seized his pursuer by the jaw. After a 
rough and tumble, both broke away, like boxers 
in the ring, then they closed, and this time the 
trout that was ultimately victorious got an ex- 
ceptionally good grip on the lower jaw of his 
opponent. They now turned over and over, 



154 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

while the fish with a grip on the jaw at intervals 
shook his almost exhausted antagonist, like a 
terrier shakes a rat. He then let go and slowly 
swam away while the vanquished fish floated up 
to the surface. The dark shadows of small fry 
— the food of the trout — are seen scurrying off 
in the background of the photographs, and the 
white spots represent the floating foam. I 
netted the exhausted trout, swabbed his gills 
with a piece of cotton wool soaked in whisky, 
and then held him in running water with his 
head upstream; when he revived he was placed 
in another pond. 

The victorious male now became very atten- 
tive to his mate, and in a few days she spawned. 
Fortunately she commenced operations at a 
distance of not more than two feet from the 
window of the observation chamber. First, she 
turned on her side and flapped out a hollow or 
trench in the gravel with her tail. During her 
exertions the eggs, or hard roe, escaped from her 
into the hollow which she had made. The male, 
meanwhile, was near by, and as he shed his milt, 
or soft roe, into the water, many of the eggs 
were fertilised. The female fish next moved a 
few inches forward and flapped out another 






Rainbow Trout : A Fight to the Death. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 155 

hollow. The gravel from this was automatically 
thrown back and covered the eggs in the first 
hollow. 

The process was repeated until about one 
thousand fertilised eggs were buried two to 
four inches below the gravel, over an area of 
several feet. Spawning as described was con- 
tinued for two days. 

I should have liked to have watched the eggs 
hatch, but the pond was required for further 
fish observation. When it was cleaned out, for 
this purpose, I examined the eggs and found 
that about fifty per cent, had been fertilised. 

During the time that trout were under obser- 
vation in my ponds, there was some correspond- 
ence in The Fishing Gazette as to the manner 
in which trout approached their food. It was 
stated that a feeding fish invariably came at its 
food open-mouthed. This is true provided the 
trout is some distance off and has made up 
its mind to take the food before he starts 
towards it. 

When a fish is steadily feeding near the sur- 
face, the mouth is not opened until the snout 
nearly touches the fly. As soon as the mouth 
is opened the gill covers are raised from the side 



156 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

of the head. This causes a suck, and the fly is 
carried down into the mouth of the trout. 

When the fish is a foot or two below the 
surface, he behaves in two ways. He may come 
up to inspect the fly before he takes it, in which 
case he feeds as described. On the other hand, 
the trout may make up his mind that he will have 
the fly before he starts. Under these circum- 
stances he rushes at it open-mouthed. When a 
fish feeds in this manner there is often a loud 
splash, and the fly is missed, because it is knocked 
out of the way. When food is taken under the 
water, the gorged fish may come leisurely 
towards it, but the feeding fish rushes at it with 
open mouth. The mouth of a trout in these 
circumstances is often open when the fish is still 
two to three feet from the food. 

On the plate opposite are three photographs. 
In the top one, the trout has detected food, and 
is giving a lateral swish with its tail to drive him 
through the water. In the two lower illustra- 
tions the same fish is shown moving rapidly 
forwards with the mouth open. 

When these photographs were taken the food 
was thrown into the water about six feet in front 
of the trout, and the mouth was invariably open 




A Rainbow Trout rushing at Food with Open Mouth. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 157 

when the fish was at least two to three feet away 
from its objective. 

In cases where food is taken on the bottom, 
the trout does not go straight down upon it 
like a roach, but partly rolls over and picks it 
up with the side of his mouth. This half turn of 
the body gives the "flash," as illustrated in the 
photograph of a feeding trout opposite page 18. 

A trout seizes a worm by any part of it, 
whether he takes it leisurely or whether he rushes 
at it. If the worm is seized near the end, the 
fish frequently spits it out, to seize it again 
nearer the middle. When hungry, the fish cares 
for little except to get the worm down, and 
swallows it right away. After feeding for a 
time, he frequently takes the food into the 
mouth, bites it, and spits it out again, and this 
is repeated two or three times before the worm 
is swallowed. 

When a trout spits out a worm, it is ejected 
some distance, and this is often an opportunity 
for another fish to rush up and seize it. At other 
times the worm is chewed for two or three 
minutes before it is swallowed, and the trout 
appears to get pleasure from the taste. 

Members of the carp family, e.g. carp, roach 



158 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

and rudd, invariably seize a worm by one end 
or the other. 

On the plate opposite a rudd, three-quarters 
of a pound in weight, is shown taking a worm. 
Even a small worm, as shown in the middle 
illustration, was invariably seized by the end. 
Only on one occasion did I see this fish take a 
worm by the middle, and then he spat it out and 
took it again by the end. 

Perch, as a rule, deliberate more than most 
fish before they feed, but once they have made 
up their minds they rush at their food. 

There is, however, no hard-and-fast rule as 
to the feeding methods of any particular fish, 
and with altered conditions a fish will very 
rapidly change its methods of feeding. This is 
illustrated by the behaviour of a tench which 
inhabited the pond at the same time as several 
trout. 

The fish in the pond were frequently fed on 
mealworms. When lightly thrown on the water, 
mealworms float for a few seconds, and then 
slowly sink. The trout rushed at them imme- 
diately they touched the water, and no food ever 
sank far below the surface. 

The tench is essentially a bottom feeder, and 




o 

5* 



ho 

3 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 159 

in consequence went hungry. The fish in 
question, however, very soon altered its usual 
habits of feeding and came up to the surface with 
the trout. Here the slow-moving tench was able 
to suck down a few of the floating worms before 
the more active trout devoured them all. 

These different ways in which fish take a 
worm have a bearing upon the manner in which 
they should be offered worms as bait. I have 
shown how a trout seizes any part of the 
worm. Here we have an explanation as to why 
" Stewart " tackle is so much more effective 
than a single hook when the running worm is 
used for trout. Further, when fishing for carp, 
bream, roach, rudd, etc., it is obviously wrong 
to put a hook through the middle of the worm 
with the ends free. 

I have fished successfully for carp with a small 
hook at each end of the worm. My method is 
as follows : At each end of a short length of gut 
tie a hook — the hooks are usually about three 
inches apart when the tackle is complete ; in the 
middle of this gut attach a trace at right angles. 
To bait, start at the middle of the worm, and 
thread each hook outwards. Previous to thread- 
ing the worm with the hooks, it can be 



160 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

thrown forcibly on the ground and killed. The 
worm now lies on the bottom with the gut trace 
coming out at right angles from the middle, and 
the head and tail each contains a hook threaded 
to the end. 

As the carp family invariably take one end 
of the worm the angler can be certain that the 
hook is in the fish's mouth as soon as the float 
moves, and can strike at once. The advantage 
in being able to strike at once, instead of waiting 
until the fish has had time to take the worm, is 
obvious. How often when fishing for carp has 
the float just gone under and then come up 
again ? The carp has taken the end of the worm 
into his mouth preparatory to sucking it down, 
but the timid fish has felt a check on the captive, 
worm, or its suspicions have been aroused in 
some other manner, and the bait is rejected 
before the hook has even been near the mouth 
of the fish. 

While brown trout (salmo fario) were under 
observation in my ponds I was very much struck 
with the sudden change in their appearance when 
these fish were alarmed. Like all other fish, 
trout, by reflection, appear dark or light, red, 
green, or any other colour, according to the 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 161 

nature of their surroundings. In addition, trout 
show certain " fear markings" which are not 
dependent upon light. When a trout is alarmed 
it rushes off to hide itself in some dark corner. 
Should this dark corner be available, the fish is 
soon lost to sight, but if the fish has to take 
shelter in light surroundings, the body of the 
trout reflects the colour around, except for a 
dark band down each side of the body and four 
irregular prolongations from this band towards 
the back. These dark markings give the fish a 
blotchy appearance, which are well illustrated in 
the colour photograph of the common brown 
trout which serves as the frontispiece to this 
volume. 

If the alarmed trout is further disturbed, it 
will dash away, and as it rushes through the water 
the fish has a distinctly barred appearance. 
After swimming about for a few minutes, these 
dark marks disappear, and the fish becomes a 
uniform shade. When the trout comes to rest it 
is still of a uniform shade, but, if again alarmed, 
the blotchy appearance will return within a few 
seconds. The barred appearance of the fish as 
it swims away has no connection with the primi- 
tive parr marks of the trout. 



162 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

There are bullies in the fish world, as in all 
other walks of life, and most pools have one 
fish who is cock o' the walk. 

In the spring of 1911 six rainbow trout were 
placed in a pond. By the end of the summer 
one of the fish weighed over a pound, and was 
considerably heavier than the others. The larger 
size of this fish was explained by the fact that 
he seized most of the food. He was the absolute 
master of the situation, and spent a considerable 
part of the day chasing and biting his smaller 
brethren. 

In September three chub, each weighing 
over two pounds, were added to the occupants 
of the pond. The rainbow immediately attacked 
them. The chub were sluggish and were not 
accustomed to being bullied. At first they 
could not understand what was required of them 
when the trout butted and bit them in the back 
and tail. Within a week, however, the rainbow 
trout had struck terror into their hearts, and he 
would spend hours chasing them round the pond. 
Two chub are shown on the plate opposite as 
they passed the window of the observation 
chamber. These fish were escaping while the 
rainbow attacked the third. The bully of the 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 163 

pond was not content to chase the chub away 
from their food, but would hustle them round 
apparently out of pure devilment. 

" Every dog has his day," and I dealt with 
that bullying rainbow by adding still another fish 
to the pond — namely, a three-pound pike. The 
effect was magical, and whenever the bullying 
rainbow came across the pike he sank down and 
lay still on the bottom of the pond. The pike 
was not large enough to hurt the other fish, and 
for a time comparative peace reigned in the 
pond. 

Shortly before I was obliged to cease observa- 
tions upon my ponds I had commenced to watch 
the habits of swans and ducks with regard to 
their influence on fish life. 

Swans certainly strip the spawn of coarse fish 
and the ribbons of perch ova from submerged 
roots and vegetation, but I have not myself come 
across an instance of swans disturbing the buried 
ova of trout, as they are stated to .do. 

The scope of the non-diving ducks is so 
limited that the harm they do must be negligible. 
When, however, fish spawn is within the reach 
of a surface-swimming duck it certainly clears 
off every egg. 



164 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

A friend of mine near Ipswich had wild ducks 
on his farm, and he kindly lent me a pair, which 
nested on the bank of the observation pond in 
my garden. The moat at Playford Hall, near 
by, was full of roach, and these fish attached their 
eggs to the submerged rootlets of willows which 
grew all round the moat. I placed several of 
the rootlets some six inches under the water in 
my pond, and watched the wild duck strip off 
the eggs. Their methods were very thorough, 
for after they had finished not an egg remained. 

Diving ducks, on the other hand, do not 
confine their attention to ova, and the mergan- 
ser and the goosander take large quantities of 
small fish. I once examined four mergansers on 
the estuary of the River Ore. These birds con- 
tained as many as fifty small fish apiece. I quote 
from Seton Gordon their influence on trout and 
salmon waters : 

"It is only recently that the name of the 
goosander has been withdrawn from the list of 
protected birds in a certain county on account 
of the number of young trout and salmon he 
devours, and an experience I had a few days ago 
would seem to go far to confirm the unfortunate 
reputation he has gained. On an expedition 




A Youns? Pike on the Look-out. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 165 

from the Forest of Gaick eastwards we descended 
to a certain hill burn near its source, and followed 
it for a number of miles. At first the burn was 
literally swarming with trout up to one pound 
and more in weight, but gradually their numbers 
decreased, and we disturbed a couple of goos- 
anders in their fishing operations. There were 
ample signs that they had taken up their home 
in the district, and near where we noted them 
there was scarcely a single fish in the burn. 
Especially when they have young the goosander 
must account for a very large number of trout, 
and it is not unnatural that the salmon-fisher 
should hold none too friendly feelings towards 
this bird. Not so many years ago the River Dee, 
near its source, held great numbers of small 
trout, but I was assured by a veteran stalker 
that these trout were almost entirely wiped out 
during a season by a pair of goosanders which 
took up their residence in the district, and after 
my recent experience I am obliged to alter my 
previous conviction that the account I heard was 
an exaggerated one." 

When an animal or bird is constantly 
observed in captivity there is a tendency for a 



166 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

familiarity to grow up between the particular 
specimen under consideration and the observer. 
This is a drawback, because the attitudes and 
habits caused by natural fear of a wild animal 
cannot be watched. I have, therefore, en- 
deavoured to remain concealed as far as possible 
during my observations. One of the best 
methods of obtaining this concealment is to 
make a home for the specimen to be observed 
in an empty observation pond, and watch it 
through the glass of the chamber. Under these 
conditions, with the lid of the chamber closed, 
the observer is neither heard nor smelt. 

In some instances it has been necessary to 
tame the subject in order to obtain some particu- 
lar photographic record — e.g. the colour plates 
of the water-hen shown in the introductory 
chapter. This bird became so tame that it would 
come off the water as soon as I appeared and 
demand food. It required a considerable 
amount of exertion upon the part of my man 
to drive her under the water when I wished to 
demonstrate her subaqueous flight. This is 
illustrated on the plate opposite. 

A water-hen propels itself under the water 
in two ways. The bird usually makes three or 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 167 

four strokes with the wings; these are then 
closed and pressed tightly to the sides, and the 
bird shoots forward with the legs trailing behind. 
After travelling about two feet the flight is 
repeated. On other occasions, when not hurried, 
it appears to walk in the water with a high- 
stepping action. 

After five years disuse my ponds no longer 
exist. The observation pond in the garden of 
the old house at Ipswich has been partially filled 
up, and grows water-lilies. The pond by the 
Corporation waterworks was destroyed in case a 
German spy should hide in the observation 
chamber ; and the wooden tank on the controlled 
stream has fallen in, and the plate-glass has been 
sold for the benefit of a local charity. I shall 
probably make another observation pond when 
labour and the cost of material have become 
normal. In case, however, any of my readers 
should feel inclined to make a pond and observe 
for themselves some of the appearances I have 
recorded, I will describe the most economical 
method of constructing a pond for general 
observation. 

Do not attempt a pond unless a plentiful 



168 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

water supply is obtainable. The general 
principle, as shown on the bottom half of 
the plate opposite page 8, is the best. The 
observation chamber consists of a large wooden 
water-tight box, with a plate-glass window in 
one side, and a lid that fits over the top. This 
box is let into the side of a small stream, and 
the pond formed by holding up the water below 
with a bank or wall. In the bottom of this 
bank or wall there should be a six-inch pipe, so 
that the water may be run off easily when it is 
desired to clean or alter the pond. Given a 
suitable position, the cost of such an arrange- 
ment before the war was about £15 to £20. 

I have always been interested in fish life, and 
originally built an observation pond so as to be 
able to take photographs of fish illuminated as 
in Nature. The results were fully described in 
"Marvels of Fish Life," published by Cassell 
and Co. in 1911. 

My observations gradually led to the investi- 
gation of the destruction of fish by their natural 
enemies, particularly in the case of the fresh- 
water fish of our rivers and inland waters. 

Inland waters well stocked with good-sized 
fish are rapidly becoming scarcer, and good free 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 169 

fishing is almost a thing of the past. This is 
certainly not due to the fact that there are now 
many more anglers who fish with rod and line, 
for fair fishing will never deplete waters. The 
explanation is found in one word : Pollution. 
For this the Fishery Board is largely responsible ; 
local protests, instead of meeting with instant 
support and remedy on the part of the Board, 
form the matter of unending "inquiries" and 
" reports," without anything practical being 
achieved. Even where stringent regulations 
do exist as to pollution, all the fish in a river 
have frequently been poisoned by the care- 
lessness of manufacturers who have allowed 
poisoned tanks, etc., to overflow. These manu- 
facturers are often wealthy firms, and either get 
off free or with totally inadequate fines. What 
is there left to do by the individual interested 
in the general preservation of fish on our inland 
waters? As man has upset the balance by his 
methods, all that remains is to restore it as far 
as possible in waters still unpolluted by waging 
continuous war against the enemies of the fish. 

I have indicated the influence of the otter, 
divers, the heron, gulls, etc., on fish life, and 
particularly on the existence of trout. The 



170 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 

biased bird protectionist will, on principle, not 
agree. There are many individuals, however, 
who, though willing to give the fish in our inland 
waters fair play, do not agree to the destruction 
of their natural enemies because they are told 
certain species will become extinct. The heron 
is safe on the fens and marshes ; the diver can 
always elude man at sea ; gulls breed beyond our 
reach. If the systematic destruction of fish- 
feeding birds were carried out for some years it 
is possible that their numbers might be reduced. 
This is what is required to give the fish in out 
inland waters a fair chance. 



Index 



Aciinoloba dianthus, 11 
Alcedo Ispida (Kingfisher), 133 
Aldeburgh, an otter hunt at, 72 
Aldeburgh Bay, an estimate of 

fish taken by gulls in, 

115 
Allen, Dr. E. J., 103 
Anemone, white, and reflection, 

11, 13 
Anemones, mimicry of vegeta- 
tion among, 15 
Angler, the, and his lures, 183 

et seq. 
question of his clothing, 

143 
" Angler from the Fish's Point 

of View, The," 7 
Arenicola marina (Lugworms), 

119 
Armistead, W. H., his yearling 

ponds visited by otters, 

83 
Artificial flies for fishing, 144, 147 
(See also Lures) 



Bait, captive, 145 

Beetles as food for gulls, 123 

Birds, and concealment by re- 
flection, 12 
and how they escape detec- 
tion, 7 

Black cormorant, the, 26 



Black-headed gull, amount of 

land food taken by, 123 

examination of contents of, 

121 
fish and marine food con- 
sumed by, 119 
Black-plumaged birds and con- 
cealment by reflection, 
12 
Brahmini kite, the, 77 
Brittle stars as enemies to fish 
life, 105 
the herring gull's destruc- 
tion of, 119 
(Cf. Starfish) 
Brook, Arthur, on the black- 
headed gull, 122 
Brown trout, the, and reflec- 
tion, 10, 18 
change in appearance of, 

when alarmed, 160 
its " flashes " while feed- 
ing, 18, 157 
study of, in observation 

pond, 20 
the spawning season of, 151 
Buccinum undatum (Whelk- 
spawn), 119 



Captive bait, 145 
Carp, a successful method of 
fishing for, 159 



171 



172 



INDEX 



Carp, how they seize their food, 

157, 158 
Cereals, damaged and devoured 

by gulls, 123, 126 
Chondrus, colour-reflections of, 

16 
Chub bullied by a rainbow 

trout, 162 
Collinge, Dr. Walter E., 102, 125 
Coloration, protective, 10 

its value to waders, 94 
Common gull, the, fish and 
marine food consumed 
by, 119 
land food taken by, 123 
Common seal, the, 84 
Concealment by reflection, 9, 10 
12, 15 
mimicry as a factor of in 
subaquatic life, 15 
Cormorant, the, a miscalled 
" diver," 26 
and "flash" from, 19, 30 

et seq. 
as destroyer of fish, 34 
as swimmer, 33 
Cormorants, enormous appe- 
tites of, 29 
habitat of, 26 
how they hunt their prey, 31 
nesting habits of, 27 
nests of, 28 
plumage of, 30 
species of, 26 
Country Life, an article on " A 
new Colony of Black- 
headed Gulls" in, 122 
on the destruction of sea- 
birds, 103 
Crab, the Swimming (Portunus 
puber), 16 



Crabs as food for gulls, 119 
mimicry among, 16 

Craneflies consumed by gulls, 
123 

Crangon vulgaris (Shrimp), 119, 
120 

Crustacea consumed by gulls, 
119 

Crustaceans, mimicry of vege- 
tation among, 15 

Cunynghame, Sir Henry, de- 
scribes under-water ap- 
pearance of floating 
fly, 138 



Dabchick, the, its feeding habits, 
41 

(See also Grebe) 
Divers and the theory of 
" flashes," 36 
definition of, 25 
diet of, 25 
feeding habits of, 42 
Diving ducks as fish robbers, 164 
Dragon fly, larvae of, and fish 

culture, 42 
Ducks and fish-spawn, 163 
Dysticus, larvse of, detrimental 
to fish culture, 42 



Ear bones, distinctive sizes and 
shapes of, 113 
(See also Otoliths) 
Earthworms, destruction of, by 

gulls, 123 
Echinoderms, percentage de- 
stroyed by gulls, 119 
Eggs, cormorants', 28 
kingfishers', 133 



INDEX 



173 



Essex and Suffolk Fishery Board, 
inquiry as to damage 
by sea-birds, 102, 116 

Eye of a fish, structure of, 19, 
23 



"Fear markings" and their 

use, 161 
Field, the, articles on under- 
water appearance of 
angler in, 7, 138 
fish-feeding experiments 
described in, 23 
Fish, anatomy of, 110 

do they appreciate colour ? 

22 
how they escape detection, 

7 
mimicry among, 15 
the structure of its eye, 19, 

23 
why attracted to birds, 30, 
39 
Fish-feeding birds, a systematic 
destruction of, neces- 
sary, 170 
Fish food destroyed by gulls, 
119 
hatcheries damaged by 
kingfishers, 137 
Fish-hawk as scavenger, 77 
Fish life, effect of sea-birds on, 

102, 104, 117 et seq. 
Fish supply, increase in, and 

the reason, 103 
Fish world, the, bullies in, 161 
Fisheries, damage caused by 

sea-birds to, 116 
Fishery Boards, short-sighted 
policy of, 43 



Fishing Gazette, the, on under- 
water appearance of a 
floating fly, 138 
Flamingoes, plumage of, 94 
" Flash," and its bearing on 
feeding habits under 
the water, 16 
attractiveness of, in fly 

fishing, 144 et seq. 
from black-plumaged birds, 

12, 30 
from cormorant, 19, 30 et seq. 
from dace, 22 
from divers, 36, 39 
from penguin, 39 
from razorbill, 38 
from trout, 18, 157 
value of, in fishing lures, 
18, 139 et seq. 
Floating flies, observations on, 

138 
Food fishes, a nursery needed 
for, 104 
havoc wrought by sea-birds 
on, 118 
Fresh-water fishing ruined by 
cormorants, 35 



Garbage taken by gulls, 123 
Goosander, influence on trout 
and salmon waters, 
164 
Gordon, Seton, on the goos- 
ander, 164 
Grain devoured by gulls, 124 

et seq. 
Great northern diver, the, 36 
Great water beetle, its larvae 
detrimental to fish cul- 
ture, 42 



174 



INDEX 



Grebe, the, as destroyer of in- 
sects, 42 
large appetite of, 41 
(See also Dabchick) 
Green cormorant (see Shag) 
Grey seal, the, 84 
Gulls, an estimate of their daily 
food supply, 115 
as scavengers, 106, 123 
destruction of fish food by, 

119 
diet of, 25 

enormous increase in num- 
bers of, 102 
fish-feeding habits of, 102 
influence of, on fish life, 
102, 104 et seq, 117 et 
seq. 
land food devoured by, 123 
partiality for trout, 122 
plumage of, as a scheme for 
aggressive concealment, 
99, 101 
rapid rate of digestion in. 

106, 107, 112 
under-water observation of, 
12 



Hawkins, Mr. Cecil, criticises 
an article by author, 7 
Herdman, Professor, 102, 110 
Heron, the, appetite of, 95 
feeding habits of, 96 
its partiality for trout, 97, 

98 
observations on, 92 
plumage markings of, 94 
Herring gull, the, fish and 
marine food consumed 
by, 119 



Herring gull, the, grain-feeding 
propensities of, 124 
land food taken by, 123 
Hope, Linnaeus, 128 
Howard, Mr., 102 
Hudson, Mr., 95, 102 



Inland waters, fishing habits 
of gulls on, 121 
preservation of, 169 
Insects injurious to fish culture, 
42 
taken by gulls, 123, 128 



Johnstone, Dr., 110 



Kingfisher, the, how it makes 
its burrow, 130 
its method of fishing, 134 
various species of, 133 
Kittiwakes and their food 
supply, 114 
examination of contents of, 
109 



Land food devoured by gulls, 

123 
Larvse detrimental to fish 

culture devoured by 

dabchicks, 42 
Loach, the, concealment of, 21 
Lobsters, mimicry among, 16 
Long, W. T., describes an 

otter slide, 74 
Lugworms, as food for gulls, 119 
Lures for fishing, description of, 

144 



INDEX 



175 



Lures for fishing, " flash " in, 
18, 139 et seq. 
under-water appearance of, 
145 
Lustrse vulgaris, 49 
(See also Otter) 



Marine food devoured by gulls, 
119 

Marine organisms and why pig- 
mented, 15 

" Marvels of Fish Life," publi- 
cation of, 8, 168 

Matthews, Duncan, a descrip- 
tion of anterior air 
vesicles by, 110 

Merganser, the, feeding habits 
of, 164 

Mimicry, its part in conceal- 
ment of subaquatic life, 
15 

Molluscs consumed by gulls, 
119 



Nidification of cormorant, 28 

of heron, 96 

of kingfisher, 130 

of otter, 48 
Night fishing, charms of, 44 



Observation ponds, how ar- 
ranged, 20 
method of construction of, 

167 
value of, 8 
Old Moon (water bailiff to 
Ribble Fishing Asso- 
ciation), 51, 74 



Otoliths, definition of, 113 

value of, in estimating 
number of fish de- 
stroyed, 113 
Otter, the, as parent, 49 
as slide-maker, 74 
diet of, 54 
favourite food of, 81 
habits of, 48 
" hover " of, 48, 49 
how the cubs learn to fish, 

50 
playful spirit of, 57, 62 
revolting treatment of, at 
Aldeburgh, 72 
Otters, a fishing excursion by, 
58 et seq. 
at play, 47, 62, 72, 79 
attack a dog, 78 
influence upon fisheries, 83 
their sense of sight and 
smell, 79, 80 



Pandalus annulicornis, 119 

Penguin, the, how it moves 
under water, 40 
plumage of, 38 

Penguins, inordinate appetites 
of, 40 

Perch, and how they take their 
food, 158 

Phalacrocorax carbo, 26 

Phalacrocorax graculus (see Shag) 

Pike, a, and the bullying rain- 
bow, 163 

Pike, the, and its prey, 21, 
22 

Pollution of rivers and streams, 
169 

Polychseta (Ragworms), 119 



176 



INDEX 



Poriunus puber, 16 
Protective coloration of sub- 
aquatic life, 10 



Ragworms as food for gulls, 

119 
Rainbow trout, a fight for a 

mate, 153 
how a bully was suppressed, 

162-3 
Razorbill, the, 38 
Reflection as a concealing factor 

under water, 9, 10, 12, 

15 
how white forms of animal 

life deal with reflection 

of top light, 11 
perfect, and how obtained, 

6 
Ribble, the, otters as frequenters 

of waters of, 51 
Ribble Fishing Association, the, 

and its water bailiff, 

51, 74 
Ridley, Mr., observations of, 

on a kingfisher's nest, 

132 
Roach, and where they lay their 

eggs, 164 
Rona, a visit to, 84 

an enforced stay at, 86 
observations on the feeding 

habits of gulls on island 

of, 84, 117 
" the wild beast " of, 

87 
Rose, Mr., Master of Essex Otter 

Hounds, 52 
Rudd the, and how it takes the 

worm, 158 



Salmo fario, 160 

(See also Brown trout) 
Salmon, the goosander as enemy 

of, 164 
Salmon flies experiments with, 

138 
Salmon fly, the, " flash " of, 

147 
Sea-birds, and the question of 
fish life, 102 
diet of, 25 

havoc wrought by, on food 
fishes, 118 
Sea-lions, performing, 88 

(Cf. Seal) 
Sea urchins, the herring gull's 
good work among, 119 
Seal, the, 84 

agility of, under water, 89 

and a dog, 90 

its extraordinary powers of 

endurance, 87 
voraciousness of, 88 
Seals, large number of, at Rona. 

86, 87 
Seaweeds and their power of 

mimicry, 16 
Shag (Green cormorant), habitat 

of, 26 
Shrimps, average number of, 
taken by gulls, 120 
devoured by gulls, 116, 119, 
120 
Skuas as robber birds, 100 

plumage of, 98 
Smith, Mr. Seth, on the feeding 

of grebes, 41 
Spawning, a description of, 

154 
Spoon bait, the " flash " of, 
146 



INDEX 



177 



Starfish, injurious, 105 

the herring gull's useful 
work among, 105, 119 

Stavely, Mr., on grain-feeding 
proclivities of herring 
gull, 125 

Subaquatic life, and how pro- 
tected, 10 
mimicry as a factor in con- 
cealment of, 15 

Subaqueous life, habits of, and 
under-water appear- 
ances, 1 

Surface-feeding gulls, plumage 
of, 99 

Swans, their influence on fish 
life, 163 

Swimming crab, the, 16 



Tench, the, its habits of feed- 
ing, 158 
Thorpe, D. Lush, 128 
Total reflection, area of, 2 et 

seq., 23 
(See also Reflection) 
Trout, a combat between two 

males, 152 
and the loach, 21 
author's observations of, 

20 
concealment by reflection of, 

10, 18 
" flashes " from, 18, 157 
how they approach their 

food, 155 
spawning season of, 151 
the goosander as enemy of, 

164 
the heron's partiality for, 

97, 98 



Trout-fishing by night, 46 
Trout flies, appearance 
149 
experiments with, 138 



of, 



Under-water appearances, ob- 
jects seen from below 
as through a window, 2 



Waders, points affecting ap- 
pearance of, 91 

Wading birds, value of colour 
to, 94 

Ward, Colonel, a ten days' stay 
at Rona, 84, 117 

Water, and its reflecting surface, 
2 et seq. 

Water-hen, how it propels itself 
under water, 166 
protective coloration of, 13 
under-water observations of, 
12, 14 

Water-kingfishers, 133 

Whaling station, a visit to a, 
84 

Whelk-spawn, percentage con- 
sumed by herring gull, 
119 

White anemone, the, and top- 
light reflection, 11 

White-billed northern diver, the, 
37 

White objects, reflecting power 
of, 10, 37 

White-plumaged birds, and con- 
cealment by reflection, 
12 

Wild ducks, and the ova of fish, 
164 



178 



INDEX 



" Window," a water, 2, 6 
Wireworms, percentage con- 
sumed by black-headed 
gull, 123 
Wood - kingfishers, food of, 
133 



Woodward, Captain, and his 
performing sea-lions, 
88 

Worms as bait, 159 

how taken by various fish, 
157 



Printed by Cassell & Company, Limited, La Belle Sauvage, London, E.C4 
F.25.1019. 



3477-5 



